It’s possible that Arsenal won’t have their captain for this important game.
MARTIN ODEGAARD stands a major risk of injury for the North London Derby after hobbling out in tears during his international duties. Due to his red card against Brighton, Declan Rice, an essential midfield player for Arsenal, will already be missing for manager Mikel Arteta.
Martin Odegaard injured his ankle on international duty.
He suffered the injury against Austria.
Odegaard hobbled off with a classy touch from his team-mate Erling Haaland.
In what may be another devastating setback, the manager of the Gunners is now worried about the fitness of his captain.
In Norway’s match against Austria in Nations League Group B3, 25-year-old Odegaard captained the team.
But shortly after the hour, after what appeared to be a harmless 50-50 battle for possession, he rolled his left ankle and was in excruciating pain.
Replays revealed the severity of the seemingly benign encounter with Christoph Baumgartner, and Odegaard instantly went down clutching the joint and writhing around in agony.
And when questioned by the media following full-time, worried Norway manager Stale Solbakken acknowledged it appeared “painful”.
“It looked painful, in the locker room too,” he remarked.
“He had no opportunity to proceed as he sat with the physiotherapists. Ankle sprains are what we know it was.
And as those of us who have played football know, if the ligaments aren’t ripped, things might work out okay with any luck.
“But I’m not sure Mikel Arteta will call me tonight to praise me.”
TV cameras panned to the crowd, capturing Helene Spilling, Odegaard’s girlfriend, displaying a worried expression.
The playmaker was treated by physios on the pitch with his head in his hands before hobbling off gingerly and in tears, assisted by the medics as he was barely able to put any weight on his left foot.
Baumgartner expressed regret for the incident, even if the RB Leipzig striker wasn’t at fault in the real ball-battle injury.
Erling Haaland offered a word of comfort to his teammate before the athlete left.
Paradoxically, though, the injury might strengthen Haaland’s own championship chances.
Not sure if Mikel Arteta will give me a call tonight to give me props.
Old Solbakken
Arsenal face a trip to Spurs on Sunday afternoon – before their opening Champions League clash next Thursday away at Atalanta then a visit to the Etihad to take on the champions on September 22.
And the fear of being without their influential skipper is now very real.
Rice’s suspension rules him out of the clash at Tottenham while new £32million midfielder Mikel Merino is sidelined with a fractured shoulder picked up in his very first Gunners training session.
Arsenal’s season has gotten off to a rough start.
In the event that Odegaard is also unable to play in the derby, Arteta will have to try something new.
For such a high-profile encounter, the manager is unlikely to choose the untested youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri, thus starting Thomas Partey, Jorginho, and Kai Havertz could be the best option.
In other news, Arteta has already had to pay a heavy price for this international break as new defender Riccardo Calafiori left the Italy camp after suffering an odd injury.
Marcel Sabitzer, a former Manchester United loanee, cancelled off Felix Horn Myhre’s opening goal in Oslo.
However, Haaland won the game with 10 minutes remaining after first being called offside but then being verified as on after a thorough VAR review.
The incident was a genuine and fair tussle for the ball.
The Norwegian was clearly in significant pain.
Odegaard’s Arsenal have a crunch week with three tough away games coming up.
He could barely put any weight on his left foot as he headed off.