Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be out for weeks after his ankle ligament injury, but he’ll be joined by one of his teammates.
Arsenal players out injured and unavailable to play
The Gunners have coped very well without a host of key players over what has been a hectic last 10 days for Arteta, and they’ve come through it without tasting a single defeat.
| Arsenal’s next five Premier League games | Date |
|---|---|
| Leicester City (home) | September 28 |
| Southampton (home) | October 5 |
| Bournemouth (away) | October 19 |
| Liverpool (home) | October 27 |
| Newcastle United (away) | November 2 |
Arsenal were arguably unfortunate to not clinch a stunning victory at Man City as well, with John Stones stealing a last-second equaliser to make it 2-2 in added-time while breaking Arteta’s heart, after goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel originally handed the 10-man away side a 2-1 lead.
These results are made all the more impressive by Arsenal’s shortage of quality options in key areas. Summer signing Mikel Merino fractured his shoulder in training, meaning the Spain international is forced to wait for his full debut, while Odegaard is set to be out for weeks after damaging his ankle on international duty with Norway.
“Ødegaard back? It will be a matter of weeks,” said Arteta in an update on Odegaard’s injury.
“But I still can’t guarantee when, I can’t tell you more than this. Before the October’s international break is unlikely.”
While Arsenal’s head coach cannot reveal a timeline, there are suggestions that Odegaard could be back for Arsenal’s game against Liverpool on October 27, which would be a big boost.
Other Arsenal players out injured right now are left-back Kieran Tierney (hamstring), Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and potentially David Raya, with Arteta claiming the latter is a doubt for tonight’s EFL Cup clash against Bolton Wanderers.
Arsenal without Oleksandr Zincheko for weeks alongside Odegaard
As well as the aforementioned squad members, Arsenal will be without another left-back in Oleksandr Zinchenko for the foreseeable future. The £150,000-per-week Ukraine international has missed their last three crunch clashes with a calf injury, with Arteta now confirming that Zinchenko will be out for weeks alongside Odegaard.
Zinchenko was a regular in Arsenal’s eleven which nearly pipped City to the title last season – starting 20 league matches and grabbing two assists – so Arteta will be very eager for the ex-Sky Blue ace to return.
