Arsenal endured a torturous international break.
After a disheartening 1-1 draw against Brighton, the Gunners went into halftime feeling that Man City had already gained the upper hand. They needed to regroup and recover.
After a training ground brawl, an injured Martin Odegaard, and an odd Riccardo Calafiori calf knock, Mikel Arteta will be left questioning if he couldn’t have simply made up an excuse to keep his players busy in north London.
They’ll stay there this weekend for the team’s shortest away trip of the season, a highly anticipated derby against fierce rivals Tottenham.
Mail Sport explores the teamsheet gymnastics Arteta could need to do to get 11 players on the pitch on Sunday—and why it might require a 17-year-old wonderkid—ahead of the mistimed crunch match.
Even while losing a lucky captain is unfortunate, losing him before a derby, Champions League match and trip to Manchester City is an absolute catastrophe.
During Norway’s Nations League match against Austria, Odegaard sustained a concerning ankle ιnjury that required the assistance of two backroom staff members to aid him off the pitch.
The 25-year-old midfielder realised his game was over the moment he was challenged for the ball and his ankle twisted in a very unnatural way on the pitch.
It is unclear how long the Norwegian will be sidelined, but it appears unlikely that he will be available for the demanding stretch of games that wrap up September.
Odegaard joins an expanding Arsenal ιnjury list that, when sanctions are taken into account, now includes seven first-team players, giving them the smallest roster in the Premier League at just 22 me𝚗.
The situation originated during the Euros, namely during Scotland’s tie with Switzerland, when Kieran Tierney collapsed on the pitch due to a hamstring ιnjury.
At about the same time, Takehiro Tomiyasu’s knee strain kept him out of the preseason, significantly reducing the Gunners’ options at full defence. The Japanese defender is still out of action because his recuperation has taken longer than anticipated.
The next person to go from the Emirates treatment room was Gabriel Jesus, a fully-paid player who had suffered another frustrating setback between the team’s opening-round victory over Wolves and their second-round match against Aston Villa.
And after waiting the bulk of the summer to sign midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad, the Spaniard then picked up a knock in his very first Arsenal session. Plus ca change.
This was all before an international break which saw Odegaard hobble off in Oslo and new recruit Calafiori getting injured in a freak incident.
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Martin Odegaard forced to use crutches as he limps onto private jet after picking up ‘ankle ιnjury‘
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The Italian left-back tackled France’s Ousmane Dembele only to have the winger fall heavily onto him, leaving the 22-year-old with his head in his hands.
Add in Declan Rice’s suspension after two yellow cards against Brighton, and an unsettled Jurrien Timber following a training ground scrap with Dutch teammate Wout Weghorst, and Arteta is left scratching around for stand-ins.
It all opens the door for Ethan Nwaneri – a 17-year-old attacking midfielder many Arsenal fans have been crying out for.
The talent impressed in pre-season, starting in matches against Bournemouth and Man United and coming on in several other friendlies.
Nwaneri scored ten goals in 13 matches in the Premier League 2 last season and six in just two games in the FA Youth Cup, and Gunners supporters have been taking to X, formerly Twitter, to express their excitement at the possibility of a starting berth for the English youngster.
Some are predicting a performance similar to that of Cesc Fabregas in the north London derby in October 2009, where the Spaniard ran half the length of the pitch for Arsenal’s second goal.