Arsenal suffer huge injury scare Martin Odegaard picks up knock with Norway

Arsenal have suffered a major injury scare after Martin Odegaard picked up a knock while playing for Norway on Sunday night.

While several of his team-mates headed off to the 2022 World Cup after domestic football split up for the international break last week, Odegaard didn’t travel to Qatar after Norway failed to qualify for the tournament.

However, the Arsenal playmaker isn’t enjoying any time off just yet as he still had to link-up with the Norway squad for friendlies against Ireland and Finland.

After seeing-off the Irish 2-1 on Thursday evening, Norway played out a 1-1 draw with Finland on Monday. Odegaard started the game and completed the full ninety minutes.

However, the Gunners captain picked up an injury during the closing minutes of the game and needed treatment after going down clutching his ankle in the final stages.

According to journalist Connor Humm, Odegaard failed to appear for his media duties after the match and was spotted limping onto the team bus as the squad made their way from the stadium.

Concern

We’ll have to wait for more news to come out about the severity of the injury but Mikel Arteta will be hugely concerned and will be sweating over the condition of his captain.

The Spanish coach will be praying for a positive update as Odegaard is a key part of the Arsenal starting eleven and was in terrific form before Premier League football stopped last weekend.

The 23-year-old became Arsenal’s top league scorer this season with 6 goals after scoring twice during the 2-0 win at Wolves last Saturday night. He’s also provided a further 2 assists in his 19 appearances so far this season.

The victory at Molineux moved Arsenal five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table so the last thing Arteta needs is injury issues derailing their campaign.

Odegaard has five weeks to recover from his ankle knock before Arsenal return to action against West Ham on Boxing Day next month, however, Arteta won’t want any of his other players to get injured over the coming weeks.

The Gunners have several players at the World Cup with William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Matt Turner and Takehiro Tomiyasu all competing in Qatar. So, Arteta will hope they all return to London unscathed next month.