Jamie Carragher: Arsenal have no attacking superstar | Football | Sport

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal’s ‘lack of superstars’ in the final third could deny them the Premier League title despite currently sitting four points clear of Manchester City. The former Reds defender delivered a damning assessment of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, suggesting the pair have fallen short of the standards anticipated of them at the Emirates Stadium.

Whilst Carragher has complete faith in the Gunners’ mental strength, he believes Mikel Arteta’s squad are lacking quality in attacking areas, despite netting the second highest number of goals in the Premier League this campaign. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are Arsenal’s closest title challengers and presently trail the Gunners by four points in second position.

Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher said: “I made a comment about Arsenal about a month ago on the back of picking my Premier League team of the season so far.

“People talk about their mentality – I actually think Arsenal have a great mentality. But their problem could be a lack of quality in the final third.

“When I watch Arsenal, I don’t think they’ve got an absolute superstar in the front four or five players. I thought Saka and Odegaard were going to get there a couple of years ago.”

“I thought they were ready to almost become the best players in the Premier League. I still don’t think Arsenal have got one of them.

“So people talk about mentality with Arsenal, but what I think could actually stop them [in the title race] is actually quality.

“I think we would all agree that Arsenal are the best team this season, but Man City have been there before, even if it’s not a vintage City.”

Both Saka and Odegaard have endured injury problems this season, leading to disrupted campaigns.

The England winger sustained a hamstring injury earlier this season during the 5-1 thrashing of Leeds United back in August.

He missed five of Arsenal’s subsequent matches with the muscle complaint, before suffering another setback, damaging his hip during the warm-up prior to the Gunners’ 4-0 victory over the Whites in the return fixture at Elland Road.

Midfield orchestrator Odegaard has similarly battled fitness issues this season. The Norway captain dealt with shoulder complications earlier in the campaign before sustaining an MCL injury in the 2-0 triumph over West Ham United in October.

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This meant he became the first player in Premier League history to be substituted before the interval in three successive starts.

Odegaard has registered just one Premier League goal thus far this season, whilst Saka has contributed merely four top-flight strikes this term. The Gunners return to Premier League duties on Wednesday and have the opportunity to re-establish a seven-point advantage over Man City should they overcome relegation-threatened Wolves at Molineux.

Arteta’s side then make the short journey to Tottenham for the north London derby this weekend in what will mark Igor Tudor’s maiden match as Spurs boss.