Jermaine Jenas recently expressed his belief that Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison is poised to outperform Arsenal’s star Martin Odegaard in the ongoing football season. Speaking on talkSPORT, Jenas articulated his predictions, highlighting the potential for Maddison to accumulate more goals and assists compared to Odegaard throughout the campaign.
Jenas, renowned for his insightful analysis of the game, voiced his opinions on the talkSPORT platform. He confidently asserted that Maddison possesses the capabilities to excel beyond Odegaard in terms of goal contributions this season. Jenas specifically pointed to the roles both players are expected to play within their respective teams and emphasized that their effectiveness in providing goals and assists would be the ultimate measure of their impact.
“I like Odegaard, massively, and I think he had an unbelievable season last year,” Jenas noted, acknowledging Odegaard’s past achievements. However, he posed an intriguing question for football enthusiasts, emphasizing the importance of assessing what Maddison and Odegaard bring to the table in the form of goals and assists.
Jenas’s assertions were further reinforced by James Maddison’s impressive performance in the recent North London derby, where Tottenham and Arsenal played out a thrilling 2-2 draw. Maddison, a 26-year-old midfield maestro, played a pivotal role in the match by providing two assists, setting up Son Heung-min for both of Tottenham’s goals. This display of creativity and playmaking ability left an indelible mark on the spectators and pundits alike.
During the discussion on talkSPORT, Darren Bent, another former footballer and talkSPORT contributor, didn’t hesitate to engage in the conversation. When Jenas laid out his predictions, Bent responded by saying, “I’ll take that bet.” Seizing the opportunity, Jenas agreed to the friendly wager, suggesting that they could discuss the terms off-air and possibly involve football shirts in their bet.
“We’ll do the football shirt thing, we’ll do something around the football shirts,” Jenas proposed. He then confidently stated, “But I can’t see that happening, I think Maddison will have easily, if not the same, more goals and assists than Odegaard.”