The games Martin Odegaard will miss for Arsenal as injury update emerges
Martin Odegaard’s injury woes have reared their head once more as he faces another extended period out of action for Arsenal and Norway.
Martin Odegaard clashed knees with West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville midway through the first-half of Arsenal‘s last game on 4 October, and he was eventually forced off due to the issue on the half-hour mark despite twice trying to play on.
Odegaard suffered a shoulder injury against Nottingham Forest last month as he then missed the next three Gunners games, and he has previous on the injury front after missing two months of last season with an ankle sprain.
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Odegaard was in a brace following their 2-0 win over the Hammers, and he was forced to withdraw from international duty with Norway last week as a result of the injury
Arsenal supporters will have been hopeful that their captain was not set to be sidelined for an extended period of time once again, but those updates did not make for great reading, and a new development has confirmed his problem is long-term once more.
Odegaard sidelined for another six weeks with MCL issue
Odegaard made history against West Ham, as he became the first player ever in the Premier League to be substituted before half time in three consecutive league starts.
Arsenal’s former strength and conditioning assistant coach, Laurence Huthwaite, told Football Insider following the injury that it wasn’t a risk for Mikel Arteta to start Odegaard against the Hammers, despite his recent issues, but he may well regret his decision now.
The BBC’s Sami Mokbel has revealed that the Norwegian playmaker is not set to play again until after the November international break due to the injury being to his medial collateral ligament, with the Gunners returning to action on 23 November after those national-team games.
Arteta will have to heavily lean on the likes of Eberechi Eze and Ethan Nwaneri in Odegaard’s absence, and Football Insider have looked at the matches that he is due to be out for.
The seven Arsenal games Odegaard is set to miss
Odegaard missed 15 games for club and country last season, and he has already been unavailable for six so far this term. These are the games he is now set to miss for the Gunners over the next six weeks:
October
- Saturday, 18 October – Fulham (a), Premier League
- Tuesday, 21 October – Atletico Madrid (H), Champions League
- Sunday, 26 October – Crystal Palace (H), Premier League
- Wednesday, 29 October – Brighton (H), EFL Cup
November
- Saturday, 1 November – Burnley (a), Premier League
- Tuesday, 4 November – Slavia Prague (a), Champions League
- Saturday, 8 November – Sunderland (a), Premier League
As well as those Arsenal games, the 26-year-old will miss three Norway games against New Zealand, Estonia and Italy as they aim to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.