Martin Odegaard might not be able to play in the North London Derby because his injury “looks bad,” according to Norway’s manager Ståle Solbakken.
The Arsenal player was taken off during the second half of Monday’s UEFA Nations League match between his country and Austria. Medical staff helped him off the pitch, and it was clear that he was in a lot of pain. Manchester City player Erling Haaland gave him a comforting hand.
He also did his best to hold back tears. And it looks like the player is under a lot of stress behind the scenes. Solbakken, the manager of Norway, said after the game, “It looked bad in the locker room too.” He wasn’t brave enough to go on. Arteta might not call me tonight and praise me.
At the same time, a doctor from Norway named Ola Sand gave a report. For TV2, he said, “He got a small ankle sprain.” We’ll see. Perhaps an ultrasound will help us see it. Tomorrow there will be an MRI if we’re not sure.
The thing that hurt Odegaard happened in the 67th minute. Christoph Baumgartner made the challenge, which caused Odegaard’s foot to get stuck in the ground and twist.
Right away, he stayed down with his friends while they called for medical help on the pitch. Without a doubt, Arsenal will hope that the problem isn’t too big after more tests.
The next few games for the Gunners will be tough, so they will really want their leader to be ready. Michael Merino, who was signed in the summer, has already been ruled out with a shoulder injury. Riccardo Calafiori, who was also signed in the summer, also got hurt while playing for Italy and had to pull out of the team.
After the defender got hurt, Luciano Spaletti, Italy’s manager, said, “We need to check on Riccardo, but with our staff, we have a good chance of having him back with us for the next game.”
That hope wasn’t well put, though, because Calafiori went back to North London and won’t be playing again during this break. In other news, Declan Rice will not be able to play this weekend against Tottenham because he was given an unfair red card against Brighton before the international break.
After this weekend’s game, Arsenal will play Atalanta in the first game of the Champions League season. Then, at the Etihad Stadium, they play Man City, who could be a title foe.
They will then host Bolton and Leicester at the Emirates Stadium before their match with PSG at the beginning of October.
Arsenal has had a good start to the new season so far, picking up seven points from their first three games. In their first two games, they beat Wolves and Aston Villa. Then, Brighton tied them.
