Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard “hasn’t been good enough since coming back from injury”, according to former Premier League striker Darren Bent.
Odegaard missed 12 matches with an ankle injury earlier this season, with Mikel Arteta forced to experiment with Leandro Trossard in midfield in his absence.
Arsenal only won three of seven Premier League matches without the Norwegian playmaker. Since his return, they had been on a 15-game unbeaten run in the top flight until losing at home to West Ham on Saturday.
Despite the unbeaten run – which consisted of five draws and 10 wins – Odegaard has been nowhere near his best.
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He has only scored three goals and made six assists in 27 appearances across all competitions this season and has been unable to turn draws into wins like he has for the last two seasons.
His lack of form has resulted in the Gunners falling 11 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Arne Slot’s men have one hand on the trophy after beating Manchester City at the Etihad a day after the Hammers earned a shock win against Arsenal.
Arteta will need his captain to step things up if Arsenal are to close the gap on the Reds and Odegaard has been called out by former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent – who is a Gunners supporter.
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Bent says Odegaard was “appalling” in the defeat to West Ham and has criticised his performances since returning from injury in November.
“He was appalling against West Ham,” Bent told talkSPORT. “He hasn’t been good since coming back from injury.
“He had a little flirt where he looked like he might be back but two Premier League goals this season, three in total.
“His performances haven’t been good enough.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a wonderful footballer but there’s too much flicks and these little scoop passes, just shoot!”
Arsenal are back in action away to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night. Liverpool, meanwhile, host Newcastle United.
Speaking ahead of the trip to the City Ground, Arteta refused to rule his team out of the title race.
He said: “It was a very disappointing weekend. The previous 15 games we had won 10 and drawn five – exactly the same as Liverpool with exactly the same goal difference.
“So we have been extremely consistent over the last three months considering everything we have been through. We have generated that momentum and it was that weekend where we have to go again but we got a defeat. On top of that they [Liverpool] win.
“When you are trying to beat that momentum and we put so much into it with the circumstances that we have, it was a really hard one to take. The reality is there are so many games to play and you have to get back to it.”
Arteta also said “over my dead body” when asked if he will give up on winning the league.
He continued: “If not I will go home. Mathematically it is possible.
“You are there, you have to play every game, suddenly three days ago we could close a gap and you are like ‘you are one-and-a-half games away’. It doesn’t matter, we have to continue to go.
“The difficulty is higher than three days about but if you are going to win the Premier League you have to do something special. If you are going to win the Premier League with the circumstances we have you will probably have to do something that nobody else has done in the history of the Premier League.”