Gunners are two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool
\nLONDON
\nMartin Odegaard has urged Arsenal to use the momentum from their recent goal spree to fuel the club\u2019s historic bid for Champions League and Premier League glory.
\nThe Gunners head to Porto on Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie in buoyant mood after demolishing Burnley 5-0 last weekend.
\nMikel Arteta\u2019s side have started a calendar year with five successive league wins for the first time in their history, scoring 21 goals in those games.
\nArsenal are just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and can turn their attention to Porto safe in the knowledge they are firmly in the hunt for a first title since 2004.
\nAs well as reigning supreme in England for the first time in 20 years, the north Londoners are convinced they can also conquer Europe.
\nArsenal have never won the Champions League \u2014 losing their only final appearance against Barcelona in 2006.
\nBuoyed by the recent string of high-scoring wins, Gunners captain Odegaard is confident his team can mount a thrilling bid for both trophies.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we want to do, we want to compete in every competition we play in,\u201d the Norway midfielder said.
\n\u201cOf course Champions League is a massive one, so we are excited for it.
\n\u201cWe just want to focus on ourselves each game, keep improving every game and we will see how it goes.
\n\u201cWe are in a good moment now. We have to use that momentum, keep building on it and we will see.\u201d
\nArsenal lost their opening game of the year to Liverpool in the FA Cup.
\nRevitalised by a warm-weather training camp in Dubai, they crushed Crystal Palace 5-0 and beat Nottingham Forest. They put Liverpool to the sword in a 3-1 league victory that served notice of Arsenal\u2019s hunger to make amends for last season\u2019s late collapse in the title race.
\nThey then thrashed West Ham 6-0 before crushing Burnley.
\nPorto, a disappointing third in the Portuguese league, could be next to suffer against Arsenal\u2019s suddenly ruthless attack.
\nFor much of the season, critics suggested Arsenal\u2019s lack of a genuine penalty-box predator could ruin their title chances.
\nGabriel Jesus\u2019s recurring injury problems have hardly helped but, even with the Brazilian playing just twice in 2024, Arsenal have been scoring with ease.
\n\u201cI think that\u2019s what we were missing a little bit in the last few weeks before the break. We created so much but we didn\u2019t score the goals,\u201d Odegaard said.
\n\u201cBut within the last few games, we\u2019ve been brilliant in front of goal. We get so many people in the box and so many situations around the box.\u201d
\nEngland winger Bukayo Saka has been one of the key figures in Arsenal\u2019s blistering run. Stopping him will be an essential part of Porto\u2019s game-plan at the Estadio do Dragao.
\nThe 22-year-old scored twice against Burnley, giving him seven goals in his last seven games.
\n\u201cThe boss told us we\u2019re the first Arsenal team to win five in a row at the start of the year, so it\u2019s a nice achievement and we\u2019ll definitely build momentum going forward,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cNot only that I\u2019m playing well, the team\u2019s playing well and we\u2019re scoring a lot of goals because we\u2019ve got some really important fixtures coming up, starting on Wednesday.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t wait to go there. I\u2019m really excited, looking forward to it and hopefully we can take this form into that game as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gunners are two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool LONDON Martin Odegaard has urged Arsenal to use the momentum from their recent goal spree to fuel the club\u2019s historic bid for Champions League and Premier League glory. The Gunners head to Porto on Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-388516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n