The midfielder picked up an ankle injury in the Scandinavian outfit's 2-1 win over Austria in the Nations League at the worst possible time for Mikel Arteta, with midfielders Declan Rice and Mikel Merino set to be out of action for Sunday's trip across the north of the capital - and whilst there is speculation surrounding the length of his injury, a report from a leading sports doctor suggests photographs have provided positive signs on his recovery.
Odegaard Injury in Detail as Arsenal Sweat
The midfielder's severity of injury is so far unknown
Arsenal's Martin Odegaard
The report on X (formerly Twitter) from Dr Rajpal Brar, a doctor in physical therapy, states that Odegaard is using Iofstrand crutches in a picture earlier on Tuesday - which reduces the weight-bearing load on his ankle.
The midfielder is not wearing protective boots in the image, however he is not in normal footwear - which Brar suggests could be due to a possible swelling on his foot.
Odegaard looks to have gone up the stairs of the airplane without crutches, which could be a bonus for Arsenal, though Brar claimed that it would be hard to determine the clear severity of the injury early on - before stating that there will be more information on his injury soon.
It is expected that Odegaard will be out of the clash against Tottenham at the weekend, but with a tricky fixture list against the likes of Atalanta away in the Champions League before another huge Premier League clash against Manchester City in the north-west in 11 days' time, Arteta will want all of his stars available where applicable.
Odegaard Absence Will be Huge in Title Race
Arsenal don't have as big of a squad as City and Liverpool
Martin Odegaard
Odegaard will be a huge miss for Arsenal. Having struggled to break into the Real Madrid side after joining the Spanish giants back in 2015 - aged just 17 - he moved to Arsenal on loan in 2020-21, though that was a slow start to life in north London.
However, he soon flourished in a permanent role at Arsenal after signing for around £30million in 2021 - and he hasn't looked back since. 30 goals in just 111 games from midfield alongside 23 assists in the top-flight since his loan move came to fruition is a superb tally, and he's been a key player in their title runs over the past two seasons.
Martin Odegaard's Premier League statistics - Arsenal squad ranking, 2023/24
Stats
Output
Squad rank
Appearances
35
=6th
Goals
8
4th
Assists
10
1st
Key Passes Per Game
2.9
1st
Shots Per Game
2.2
2nd
Match rating
7.37
3rd
Odegaard is Norway and Arsenal's captain, so not only will his talents on the pitch be felt, but his influence off it - and with Kai Havertz now likely to sit behind Gabriel Jesus or Raheem Sterling in the No. 9 role, it will bring about a different dimension to Arsenal's season.
They will need to win their key games over the next two weeks if they are to keep the pace throughout the season and his absence will be massively felt.
0 Comments