According to one analyst, Martin Odegaard uses a secret signal to indicate the type of corner Arsenal will take.
Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Emirates, ending a run of poor play.
The first two Arsenal goals came from corners, with Gabriel heading home the first and the Brazilian defender forcing an own goal from Palace keeper Dean Henderson for the second.
On Match of the Day, former Wales and Swansea defender Ashley Williams attributed the Gunners’ set-piece success to Martin Odegaard, whom he claimed was signaling to the taker where to position their corner.
Williams provided the following explanation in his game analysis: “There’s always a trigger for what the movement’s going to be, and we can see they have worked on whether it’s a front-post corner or a back-post corner.
“If you keep an eye on Odeggard, we feel – maybe we’ve had too much time on our hands – but we feel that maybe he’s signaling something to the corner taker.
“He’s in the same place for every corner and he’s playing with his socks. The reason we’re looking for a trigger is because [these things] are worked on.
“There is synchronicity regarded whether they go to the front or the back. Every clip we see here he is doing the same thing where he’s playing with his socks. It might be a coincidence, yes.
“This one’s interesting because it’s actually a front-post and he does a different thing with his socks, so I understand we might be reaching for something that isn’t there, but it is a big coincidence that he’s always there and always doing something with his sock.
“I think [Arsenal set-piece coach] Nicolas Jover has said ‘We have signals on what set-piece we’re doing”
With their victory, Arsenal goes up to third place, over Aston Villa. Jurgen Klopp’s team now has to ensure that they maintain their lead at the top when they play Bournemouth on Sunday.
In contrast, Roy Hodgson’s team has only triumphed once in 12 games played in all competitions.
