Arsenal midfielders’ Declan Rice and Martin Odegard were both forced off the pitch after being injured in a 2-0 victory at West Ham, and the club discovered the extent of the problem
Declan Rice will report England’s obligations despite fear of injury, but Arsenal has received bad news from Captain Martin Odegard.
Arsenal midfielder Rice dropped out at the end of his side’s 2-0 victory on Saturday, with a back injury that Mikel Arteta raised concerns about whether he’s worthy of England. However, Rice will be taking part in St. George’s Park on Monday to join for friendly Wales and Latvian qualifiers.
Harry Kane also showed he fits after complaining about foot issues after a 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich’s Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. However, there wasn’t much good news for Arsenal’s star Odegard, who has withdrawn from his Norwegian team to face Israel and New Zealand.
Odegaard has injured his left knee and Arsenal’s ligament, waiting for the Norwegian midfielder to leave with a brace in his knee.
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In a statement, Arsenal said: “Martin Odegard has withdrawn from Norway for upcoming matches against Israel and New Zealand after suffering an medial collateral ligament injury to his left knee in the first half in Saturday’s victory at West Ham United.
“Martin will continue to be evaluated and treated by the medical team at Soba Realty Training Center during the international window, with the aim of returning to action as soon as possible.”
The news came as a major blow to Arsenal after Odegard put on an inspired performance to help Odegard win the Champions League 2-0 on Wednesday. The playmaker only shook a shoulder injury and Arteta made a pessimistic post-match update on Saturday.
“In Martin, it was a crash, a knee to knee. I don’t look very positive at this point,” he told Sky Sports. “Immediately he was uncomfortable. I spoke to him. He’s not positive about it, he has braces, we have to wait and look from the doctor.”
Asked about Rice, who took off after scoring the opening goal against West Ham, added:
The gunners are next active on October 18th when they made a short trip across London to play Fulham at Craven Cottage. Odegard’s injury has had an otherwise great weekend for Arsenal, who is now sitting at the top of the Premier League table, one point above Liverpool.
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