Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the fitness of Martin Odegaard, amid widespread concerns surrounding a potential upcoming spell on the sidelines for the Norwegian international.
The Gunners, of course, were back in action a short time ago.
On the back of a stellar opening to the campaign, culminating in a perfect four wins from four, Arteta’s troops welcomed Aston Villa to the Emirates, hopeful of maintaining their spot atop the Premier League table.
And, when all was said and done, this is precisely what Arsenal went on to do.
Strikes on the part of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli proved enough to guide the capital giants to the right side of a 2-1 scoreline, keeping spirits high on the red half of north London ahead of a showdown with Manchester United this weekend.
This Arsenal side are just built different!
Gabriel Martinelli fires the Gunners head immediately after Aston Villa had them pegged back 👊 pic.twitter.com/vN708OMxpJ
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 31, 2022
As alluded to above, though, an otherwise fine night’s work for Arsenal on Wednesday was soured to a not inconsiderable degree by a fresh blow on the personnel front.
After the Norwegian was ultimately left with no choice but to limp out of proceedings, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of his captain’s fitness was put to boss Mikel Arteta.
And the Spaniard went on to confirm that Odegaard’s ankle is indeed ‘swollen’, owing to a ‘bad kick’.
It now remains to be seen whether the problem will culminate in any form of extended spell on the sidelines.
On Ødegaard’s injury:
He got a bad kick and it’s swollen. Still unclear how bad it is
— Freddie Paxton (@Freddie_Paxton) August 31, 2022
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