Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard nominated for PL Player of the Month

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 08 September 2022

Jesus, Odegaard nominated for PL Player of the Month

Arsenal pair Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard are among the eight nominees for the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August.

Arsenal duo Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard have both been nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August.

Jesus has immediately cemented himself as Arsenal's first-choice centre-forward with six goal contributions from as many matches this term, scoring three and setting up three more.

The Brazil international had a hand in every goal during the 4-2 win over Leicester City, and he impressed against Manchester United despite coming out on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, captain Odegaard followed up his brace against Bournemouth with the equalising goal against Fulham last month, and he has started every game for the Gunners so far.

The Norway skipper recovered from an ankle injury in time to feature in the defeat to Man United, and the Gunners - who are the only team with more than one nominee for August - remain top of the table after six matches.

Martin Odegaard during Arsenal training on September 7, 2022 © Reuters

The duo have now been recognised for their efforts with nominations for the first Player of the Month award of the season, but they are facing stiff competition to claim the individual accolade.

Manchester City talisman Erling Braut Haaland unsurprisingly takes up one of the eight nomination spots after amassing a remarkable 10 goals in his first six Premier League games for the club.

The 22-year-old opened his account with a brace against West Ham United before scoring back-to-back hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, and he also hit the 25-goal mark in the Champions League against Sevilla in midweek.

No further players from the 'Big Six' clubs have been shortlisted for the award, where there is also a nomination for Brighton & Hove Albion's Pascal Gross after his three-goal and two-assist haul to start the season.

Leeds United attacker Rodrigo has also thrived under Jesse Marsch with four goals from five Premier League outings so far, and he represents yet another attacking player up for the award.

Manchester City's Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring their first goal on September 6, 2022 © Reuters

An identical haul of goals from five games also belongs to Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, who has been on song for the Eagles despite another transfer saga in the summer window.

Over at Craven Cottage, Fulham's leading marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic has already found the back of the net six times in the Premier League and is the sole Cottagers representative shortlisted for August's prize.

Finally, Newcastle United's last line of defence Nick Pope has opened the new season with three clean sheets, and he made nine saves in last weekend's goalless draw with Palace.

Out of the eight players up for the award, only Zaha has a previous Premier League Player of the Month trophy to his name after winning the prize in April 2018.

Premier League Player of the Month nominees:

Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Erling Braut Haaland (Man City)
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
Pascal Gross (Brighton)
Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Rodrigo (Leeds)