At the best of times, supporters don’t like the international break, so you just know that those repping the colours of Arsenal hate it even more now.
What’s even worse for someone like Mikel Arteta is that they have some really difficult games coming up, including Arsenal’s trip to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
The Gunners will already be without Declan Rice after his red card against Brighton, with new signing Mikel Merino also picking up a shoulder injury in his first training session.
After the Tottenham game, the Champions League campaign begins – a trip to Europa League champions, Atalanta – before the small matter of having to lock horns with Manchester City.
As soon as Odegaard was hobbling off, the Arsenal fans were scrambling and searching everywhere to see if the injury was as bad as it looked.
The 25-year-old seemed to roll over his ankle and now it’s a case of how bad it is because he is the last player Arteta can replace in the XI.
Former Norway international Jan Aage Fjortoft posted on Twitter what the nation’s team doctor, Ola Sand, has had to say about Odegaard’s injury.
The team doctor has noted how ‘ankle sprains are difficult to deal with straight away’ and the fact that there will be an ‘MRI tomorrow (the day after the game)’.
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Martin Odegaard’s injury
‘Ankle sprains are difficult to deal with straight away, so we almost have to see how things go forward, says national team doctor Ola Sand to TV 2,’ wrote Fjortoft
‘We will examine him when we are back at the hotel. Maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow, Sand continues.’
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Who replaces Martin Odegaard?
The worst-case scenario now has to be talked about and that’s Odegaard missing, at the very least, the north London derby at the weekend.
If that’s the case, then someone needs to step up and you sense this could be the time for Arsenal’s number nine Kai Havertz.
Someone like Leandro Trossard can play that central forward role and Havertz can drop back, or perhaps, there is the wildcard option.
Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling from Chelsea and Arteta could possibly start his new loan capture in some capacity.
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