Shearer and Sutton. Rooney and Ronaldo. Vardy and Mahrez. Drogba and Lampard. Silva and Aguero.
Many Premier League champions have double acts – key attacking lines that fuel the title charge.
If Arsenal want to challenge for the title this season, it will be their own deadly duo: Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.
Saturday 5-2 win at West Hamin which Arsenal were irresistible for 25 minutes in an insane first half, showed what they are capable of when both players are in good spirits.
Most telling was the combination of Saka and Odegaard who set up the crucial second goal just after West Ham thought they had equalised, but Crysencio Summerville's chipped finish was ruled offside.
Odegaard's pass for Saka was delightful, as was the Englishman's pass to Leandro Trossard, who fired the ball into the goal.
Their relationship on the field is so good that they can even share penalty kicks. With both Saka and Odegaard scoring from penalties, Arsenal took two first-half penalties for the first time in a Premier League game.
“He asked me for the ball – he wanted to score,” Saka told BBC Match of the Day of Odegaard, who took the first penalty. “He gives me a lot of balls, so it’s nice to give them back to him.”
Saka and Odegaard are key for Arsenal – if both are fit they have a chance of overtaking Liverpool. The terrible performance in Bournemouthwhen both were sidelined through injury, it highlighted how hard Arsenal are struggling without them.
This game was the low point of seven Premier League games in which Odegaard was ruled out with a sprained ankle. In the three league games since his return, the Arsenal captain has contributed a goal or assist in every single game.
“I just wonder if Martin Odegaard was as much of a mistake for Arsenal as Rodri was for Manchester City?” asked Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I like Arsenal. With Martin Odegaard they are a completely different team.”
