MARTIN Odegaard has called for calm after Arsenal were finally knocked off the Premier League summit this week.

Favourites Manchester City seized the initiative in the title race on Wednesday when they took advantage of the Gunners’ error-laden efforts at the Emirates to seal a 3-1 win.

The result saw City edge ahead in the table courtesy of their superior goal difference, although Arsenal do still have a game in hand.

Far from dwelling on the defeat, however, Odegaard is urging his teammates to show the right response tomorrow (Saturday) when the north Londoners visit Aston Villa.

“We know there’s a long way to go, we’ve said it after every game we’ve won,” the Arsenal skipper told Amazon Prime. “We have to stay calm, keep working hard and take it game by game.

“It’s the same now when you lose, we need to just come back on Saturday and get a win again, that’s all that matters.

“The good thing is that the next one comes around very quickly.”

But maybe that quick turnaround isn’t such a good thing – especially when it involves taking on a man who some feel was sacked too soon when he was in charge at Arsenal.

Unai Emery, who lasted just 18 months in the Gunners job, will be desperate to get one over on his former club. And he’ll fancy his chances against an Arsenal side who travel to Villa Park having taken just one point from their previous three games.

Having lasted twice as long in the job, and counting, Mikel Arteta knows exactly what needs to be addressed to end the winless run.

“We have to pick the points up because the performances are there,” said the Arsenal boss.

“Games are decided in the boxes. We have given too much away [against Manchester City] and we weren’t ruthless enough to convert our chances, and that’s where we have to improve. We need to improve the efficiency in the box, that’s for sure.”

One area Arsenal won’t be changing their game, though, is playing out from the back when under pressure. It proved a costly tactic against City, but Arteta insisted: “When errors happen as part of the risks we take, the risk and reward is understanding what we have to do.

“We didn’t understand well what we had to do when they changed their formation. But we created big problems for them, too, so it’s always that balance.”

Quizzed on whether City now have the advantage, the Spaniard added: “Psychologically there is a marathon still, so psychologically there is very far to go. I said it at the start, I said it three months ago and I say it today, it’s about tomorrow and the most important thing is how we are tomorrow and focus on that, because the rest of the things, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”