Arsenal will be assessing the fitness of captain Martin Odegaard ahead of Sunday’s north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur after the attacking midfielder limped off injured during Norway’s UEFA Nations League match at home to Austria last night. Odegaard, 25, appeared to twist his left ankle midway through the second half of Norway’s 2-1 win. He required the help of physios before leaving the pitch to receive further treatment.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken said: “It looked bad in the changing room. He had no chance of continuing. I’m not sure [Arsenal manager Mikel] Arteta will call me tonight and praise me.” The Norway team doctor, Ola Sand, sounded a bit more optimistic about the extent of the injury. “Martin is doing quite well now,” he said. “He got a small ankle sprain. We will see throughout the evening and tomorrow what happens next and what we will do about it.”
However, on Wednesday new updates emerged suggesting Odegaard could be sidelined "for a minimum of three weeks", according to Norway's medical team, who spoke to VG Sporten. Arsenal’s midfield will already be missing Declan Rice, who is suspended for Sunday after being sent off against Brighton & Hove Albion on Matchweek 3, and Mikel Merino, who damaged a shoulder in his first training session after signing from Real Sociedad. Meanwhile another new signing, defender Riccardo Calafiori, will be assessed after injuring a calf in Italy's win over France last week. Striker Gabriel Jesus has missed the last two Matchweeks with a groin injury.
After the Spurs match, Arsenal face a midweek trip to Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League before travelling to Manchester City a week on Sunday. Arteta is set to provide an update on his squad in his pre-match press conference at 13:30 BST on Friday.
How may absent Odegaard affect Arsenal? When analysing the stats since Odegaard joined Arsenal in January 2021, there is a clear decline in Arsenal’s win percentage without their inspirational midfielder. When Odegaard has started, the club have won 66.4 per cent of their Premier League matches, but that figure falls to 52.6 per cent in the 19 matches where he has not started. Arsenal’s attacking input also declines in Odegaard’s absence. Their goals-per-match average falls from 2.1 when he starts to 1.6 when he doesn’t, while their shot average also decreases from 15.9 per 90 to 13.3.