MARTIN ODEGAARD is a major injury risk for the North London Derby in another bitter blow for Arsenal after limping off on international duty in tears.
Mikel Arteta will already be without key midfielder Declan Rice following his bonkers red card against Brighton.
YouTubeMartin Odegaard injured his ankle on international duty[/caption]
YouTubeHe suffered the injury against Austria[/caption]
Odegaard hobbled off with a classy touch from his team-mate Erling HaalandRex
YouTubeHis girlfriend Helene Spilling watched on concerned[/caption]
And now the Gunners boss is sweating on his skipper’s fitness.
Odegaard, 25, captained Norway in their Nations League Group B3 clash against Austria.
But he was in agony just after the hour mark after a seemingly innocuous 50-50 tussle for possession, rolling his left ankle.
Odegaard immediately went down clutching the joint, writhing around in agony as replays showed the severity of the incident with Christoph Baumgartner.
TV cameras cut to the crowd and showed Odegaard’s girlfriend Helene Spilling looking on concerned.
The playmaker was treated by physios on the pitch with his head in his hands before hobbling off gingerly crying, assisted by the medics as he was barely able to put any weight on his left foot.
Baumgartner apologised for the collision – although the RB Leipzig forward was not at fault for the injury in the genuine battle for the ball.
Erling Haaland gave his team-mate a touch of consolation as the star headed off.
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But ironically, the injury could boost Haaland’s own title hopes.
Arsenal face a trip to Spurs on Sunday afternoon – before their opening Champions League clash next Thursday away at Atalanta then a visit to the Etihad to take on the champions on September 22.
Arsenal have a tricky start to the season
And the fear of being without their influential skipper is now very real.
Rice’s suspension rules him out of the clash at Tottenham while new £32million midfielder Mikel Merino is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
And should Odegaard also be unavailable for the derby, Arteta will need to experiment.
Thomas Partey, Jorginho and dropping Kai Havertz in could be the most likely option – with the manager unlikely to turn to the inexperienced youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri for such a high-profile match.
In Oslo, Felix Horn Myhre’s opener was cancelled out by ex-Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer.
But Haaland grabbed the victory ten minutes from time after initially being flagged offside before a lengthy VAR check proved he was on.
RexThe incident was a genuine and fair tussle for the ball[/caption]
YouTubeThe Norwegian was clearly in significant pain[/caption]
RexOdegaard’s Arsenal have a crunch week with three tough away games coming up[/caption]
RexHe could barely put any weight on his left foot as he headed off[/caption]