Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has another reason to worry ahead of their first North London derby of the season as his talismanic midfielder, Martin Ødegaard suffered an injury while on international duty.
Martin Ødegaard, who is Arteta’s most reliable midfielder, got injured while playing in Norway’s win over Austria on Monday, September 9, 2024.
Ødegaard had to be helped out of the pitch after twisting his ankle following a collision with Austrian player Christoph Baumgartner in the second half of the encounter.
Despite his absence, Norway went on to beat Austria 2-1 thanks to Erling Haaland’s 80th minute winner.
After the game, Norway coach, Stale Solbakken said: “Martin Odegaard’s injury looks bad in the dressing room.”
On the contrary, the team doctor of Norway, Ola Sand said the injury was not as severe as earlier anticipated but added that further test was necessary to ascertain the extent of it.
“He (Odegaard) got a small ankle sprain”, the doctor told reporters.
“He got a small ankle sprain. We will see; maybe we can use ultrasound to look at it.
“If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow.”
Earlier today, September 10, a picture of Martin Ødegaard boarding a private jet on crutches surfaced. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed via the caption that the Norwegian midfielder was flying back to London to be assessed by Arsenal staff.
“Arsenal staff will assess his ankle injury to understand how long he will be sidelined, with NLDerby this week”, he said.
This means that Martin Ødegaard might be unavailable for Arsenal’s London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 15, 2024.
If that happens, coach Arteta would be without two of his most trusted midfielders for the game as Declan Rice is suspended for the match after receiving a red card against Brighton two weekends ago.
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