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Arsenal fans have expressed excitement after seeing club captain Martin Odegaard return to the starting lineup for their clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Gunners will host Tottenham at the Emirates in the first North London Derby of the 2022-23 Premier League season on Saturday (1 October). Odegaard notably missed his club's last match before last month's international break against Brentford.
While Fabio Vieira filled in admirably for the Norwegian, even scoring his first goal for Mikel Arteta's side on that occasion, Arsenal fans are excited to have Odegaard back. One of them wrote on Twitter:
"Suns out which means Odegaard bout to have a 10/10 performance"
Another tweeted:
"Comeback Odegaard 😄😄 We will definitely win 🔥🔥"
Here are some of the best reactions to the news:
Odegaard was one of two changes made by Arteta from their 3-0 win over the Bees prior to the international break. Another change saw Oleksandr Zinchenko return to take his left-back spot from Kieran Tierney. Both Tierney and Vieira are on Arsenal's bench.
Arsenal and Tottenham name strong starting lineups for derby clash
For the game against Tottenham, Aaron Ramsdale will start in goal for Arsenal, with Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Ben White on defense.
Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are the two holding midfielders, with Bukayo Saka, Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in front of them. Gabriel Jesus will lead the line as their lone striker.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have also made two changes to the team that beat Leicester City 6-2 in their last Premier League encounter.
Son Heung-min, who came off the bench to score a hat-trick against the Foxes, will start against the Gunners in place of the injured Dejan Kulusevski. Cristian Romero marked his return from injury by replacing Davinson Sanchez.
Antonio Conte's side will have Hugo Lloris in goal and he will be protected by a back three of Clement Lenglet, Eric Dier and Romero. Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will man the midfield, with Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon starting in the full-back positions.
Spurs have picked a fiery front three of Son, Richarlison and Harry Kane.
With both teams entering this match on the back of convincing victories in their previous games, this promises to be an exciting encounter.
Victory for Tottenham will see them leapfrog current Premier League leaders Arsenal to top spot in the standings. However, a Gunners win will see Spurs suffer their first league loss of the season and fall four points behind their north London rivals after eight matches.
