Fabio Vieira vs Martin Odegaard – What Do The Stats Say?
We crunch the numbers to see how Arsenal duo Fabio Vieira and Martin Odegaard have been performing lately
Fabio Vieira and Martin Odegaard are two of Arsenal’s most exciting young attacking midfield players.
Vieira is settling into life in London following his transfer to The Emirates from FC Porto in the summer of 2022, while Odegaard has recently been made Arsenal’s new permanent captain.
The duo have similar attributes and play in similar positions – so, what do the stats say about both players?
In this article, we’re going to take a close look at how the pair have been performing over the last few seasons, crunching the numbers to see how they compare. We’ll also cover some of the pair’s recent history to understand more about their journey to where they are today.
So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s begin taking a closer look at Vieira and Odegaard.
Martin Odegaard (Photo: Arsenal Media / YouTube / Screengrab)
Introduction And Recent History
Fabio Vieira is a product of the FC Porto youth system. After coming through the Portuguese club’s academy, Vieira made his first team debut for the club in June 2020.
The midfielder began to feature regularly in the FC Porto first team in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before a move to the Premier League beckoned.
He signed for Arsenal in June 2022 in a deal reported to be worth in the region of €35m plus €5m in add-ons. He made his first-team debut for the Gunners in September 2022, coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 loss to Manchester United.
Martin Odegaard initially joined Arsenal on a six-month loan spell from Real Madrid, where he had been since 2015, in the January 2021 transfer window. He featured regularly during his loan spell, notching up 14 Premier League appearances and scoring one goal before returning to the Bernabeu.
However, Arsenal moved to sign Odegaard on a permanent basis from Real Madrid in the summer of 2021, and he officially became a Gunners player in August of that year.
He was a constant presence in the Arsenal team in the 2021-22 season, making 36 Premier League appearances. The Norway international was then appointed as Arsenal’s permanent club captain in the summer of 2022 in the wake of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s departure earlier in the year.
Fabio Vieira (Photo: Arsenal / YouTube / Screengrab)
Vieira vs Odegaard – Recent League Form
Let’s now take a look at the numbers to see how the pair have performed in the league over the last few seasons. Odegaard has one full season of Premier League football under his belt, while Vieira did not have any experience playing outside of the Portuguese league before his move to The Emirates.
In the 2021-22 season, Odegaard found himself as a key player in the Arsenal team as the Gunners challenged for a top-four finish but ultimately missed out on Champions League qualification.
That season, Odegaard started 32 of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League games, making a further four appearances from the bench. He scored a total of seven goals and made four assists in the Premier League as Arsenal finished fifth.
In the same campaign, Vieira started 15 of FC Porto’s 34 games in the Portuguese league, making a further 12 appearances from the bench. His numbers that term were particularly impressive, with the midfielder notching up 14 assists and scoring six goals to help FC Porto win the title.
That was Vieira’s first real taste of being a regular fixture in the first team at FC Porto. Prior to the 2021-22 season, he had only made five starts in the Portuguese top flight in total.
Martin Odegaard (Photo: Arsenal Media / YouTube / Screengrab)
In the 2020-21 season, Vieira made 19 appearances in the league – but only three of those came as a starter. He notched up one assist in the Portuguese top flight that term.
Odegaard’s loan spell at Arsenal from January 2021 to the end of the season resulted in him scoring one goal and making two assists in 14 Premier League appearances, nine of which came as a starter.
Prior to that, Odegaard’s most fruitful season came in the 2018-19 campaign, when he was on loan to Dutch side Vitesse from Real Madrid. That term, he scored nine goals and made 12 assists in 35 appearances in the Dutch top flight.
So, it’s clear to see that Odegaard has more experience at the top level than Vieira, but that’s to be expected considering that the Norwegian is around one-and-a-half years older than his Portuguese counterpart.
Fabio Vieira (Photo: Arsenal / YouTube / Screengrab)
What About In Europe?
Odegaard has so far only made two appearances in the Champions League during his career – both of which came with Real Madrid in the 2020-21 season.
Other than that, he has featured in the Europa League for Arsenal. He scored one goal in six games in the Europa League in 2020-21.
Meanwhile, Vieira has actually featured more times in the Champions League than Odegaard at the time of writing. In the 2020-21 season, he scored one goal in six appearances in Europe’s elite club competition for FC Porto.
In the following season, Vieira made a further two appearances from the bench in the Champions League and also featured three times in the Europa League, notching up one assist.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard (Photo: @odegaard.98 / Instagram)
So, it’s fair to say that both players are relatively inexperienced on the European stage at the moment. That said, Vieira has slightly more Champions League minutes under his belt than Odegaard.
Vieira vs Odegaard – Head To Head In Front Of Goal
Let’s now examine how the pair have performed in front of goal in terms of total goals and assists in recent seasons.
The numbers below show the total number of club goals scored and assists made per season in all competitions (however, note that assists numbers only include league and European games). Odegaard’s stats are totals from both his loan and permanent spells.
• 2019-20 season:
Vieira – 2 goals and 1 assist
Odegaard – 7 goals and 6 assists
• 2020-21 season:
Vieira – 1 goal and 1 assist
Odegaard – 2 goals and 2 assists
• 2021-22 season:
Vieira – 6 goals and 16 assists
Odegaard – 7 goals and 4 assists
• Total:
Vieira – 9 goals and 18 assists
Odegaard – 16 goals and 12 assists
So, Odegaard clearly leads the way in terms of goals scored in recent seasons. However, Vieira boasts the more impressive numbers in terms of assists, having notched up 18 over the last three seasons.
What’s most notable about those figures is that the bulk of Vieira’s goals and assists came when he was given regular playing time in the first team at FC Porto for the first time in the 2021-22 season.
Fabio Vieira (Photo: Arsenal / YouTube / Screengrab)
How Old Are Vieira and Odegaard?
The pair are of a similar age, with Odegaard around a year-and-a-half older than Vieira.
Odegaard was born on 17 December 1998 in Drammen, Norway, and is currently 24 years old.
Vieira was born on 30 May 2000 in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal and is currently 22 years old.
How Tall Are Vieira and Odegaard?
Odegaard is the taller of the two players. The Norway international is 178cm or 5ft 10ins tall, while Vieira is 170cm or 5ft 7ins tall.
Martin Odegaard (Photo: Arsenal Media / YouTube / Screengrab)
Vieira vs Odegaard – In Conclusion
So, that brings us to the end of our comparison article looking at Fabio Vieira and Martin Odegaard.
Both midfielders have a similar style of play and both look poised to be important players for Arsenal in the seasons to come.
Vieira really only has one full season of regular first-team football under his belt (2021-22 at FC Porto) but his numbers in that campaign show plenty of promise and potential.
Similarly, Odegaard has only had one full campaign at Arsenal so far, and his most impressive campaign in terms of goals and assists came in 2018-19 while on loan to Vitesse.
Overall though, the stage looks set for both players to feature regularly for Arsenal as they continue to develop and improve in the coming campaigns.
