Arsenal’s worst fears have been all but confirmed as star midfielder and club captain Martin Odegaard is most likely looking at three weeks out with his ankle injury, at the very least.
The Norway international didn’t quite look at his most comfortable or effective in the recent 1-1 draw against Brighton at the Emirates Stadium, and he then had Gooners everywhere panicking when he limped off in his country’s recent game against Austria.
See below as Fabrizio Romano has now quoted Norway’s doctor as saying Odegaard is likely facing a minimum of three weeks out, and one imagines that means it could end up being even more…
??? Norwegian NT doctor on Martin Ødegaard’s injury: “Injuries like this takes minimum 3 weeks. Everything else is bonus”.
“They are investigating the MR now. There is probably no breach in his foot”, he’s told @vgsporten. pic.twitter.com/UOSu052x0x
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 11, 2024
Odegaard is one of Arsenal’s most important players, so it remains to be seen how Mikel Arteta will cope without the 25-year-old, especially as this time period will see the north London giants facing some big games such as Tottenham away this weekend, and then Manchester City away the following weekend.
Arsenal also have Declan Rice suspended for this Sunday’s trip to Spurs, so this will be a huge test of Arsenal’s resolve and tell us a lot about what they can achieve this season, even if it’s still only September.
AFC fans really couldn’t have wished for a worse start than this, with summer signing Mikel Merino also out after getting injured in one of his first training sessions, delaying his debut and leaving Arteta even more short of cover in midfield.
Odegaard injury: How Arsenal could line up without their captain
We took a look here at how Arsenal could line up without Odegaard and Rice this weekend, and while it’s not necessarily a disaster as Kai Havertz can play that role well, it really isn’t the kind of line up Arteta would have wanted to have to field in such a big game.
Having one of Odegaard or Rice out would have been difficult, but to lose both for a North London Derby is an absolute nightmare for Arteta, so fair play to him if he still manages to mastermind a victory this weekend.