Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will miss a number of the Premier League leaders’ games with a knee injury that will keep him out for up to six weeks.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be sidelined until after the November international break due to an MCL injury sustained during the Gunners’ recent 2-0 win over West Ham. The Norwegian star was forced to withdraw from the national team, but now there is some clarity on when he will return.
According to BBC Sport, Odegaard is expected to return in late November. If he does not play for a full six weeks, he will miss seven of Arsenal’s games.
The Gunners return to Premier League action this Saturday, traveling to Fulham before hosting Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
read more: Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard suffers serious injury; return date confirmedread more: Arsenal News: Deal completed behind Joe Keles, Odegaard’s troubling injury update
They then welcome Crystal Palace and Brighton to the Emirates for high-profile fixtures before heading north to Burnley before flying to Slavia Prague for a Champions League match, followed by a long trip to Sunderland on November 8.
Club soccer was then suspended again for international matches, during which Norway could qualify for next summer’s World Cup. They will host Estonia before heading to Italy, but they could already have qualified by the time the games start.
Odegaard is keen to return but is wary of rushing his return and risking further injury. The first game after the November international break is also a home match against Tottenham (November 23), so the captain will be keen to feature there.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have a well-equipped midfield with Ebelesi Eze and Ethan Nwaneri ready to replace Odegaard. Mikel Merino could partner Declan Rice and Martin Zvimendi in the Gunners’ midfield.
It’s a crucial period for Arsenal, but they have started well, losing just once in all competitions.
They currently lead the Premier League and have taken maximum points from their first two Champions League games.
Odegaard returned to Norway last week to support his national team against Israel.
After the match, the 26-year-old chose not to take part in the raucous celebrations in the changing room for fear of aggravating his knee injury.
Norway’s coach Starre Solbakken said after the game: “It wasn’t easy to go into that locker room after the game. He was scared to take a knee in that scene!”
7 Arsenal games Martin Odegaard could miss:
Saturday 18th October – Fulham (a).
Tuesday 21st October – Atlético Madrid (h).
Sunday 26th October – Crystal Palace (h).
Wednesday 29th October – Brighton & Hove Albion (h).
Saturday 1 November – Burnley (a).
Tuesday 4th November – Slavia Prague (a).
Saturday 8 November – Sunderland (a).
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
