Arsenal star attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard went down with an ankle injury in Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria during the UEFA Nations League, becoming the latest top player to fall victim to an injury during a useless set of international games during a period of time laughably dubbed a “break”.
Odegaard’s injury comes before Arsenal is set to face off against arch rivals Tottenham in the North London derby, with big fixtures against Atalanta in the Champions League and then Manchester City in the Premier League afterwards.
No match in world football, besides El Clasico, feels as big as Arsenal vs. Manchester City now that Mikel Arteta and mentor Pep Guardiola have been battling neck-and-neck for the Premier League title in back-to-back games.
But with a three-week timeline expected for Odegaard, the Norwegian superstar is going to miss several more games than those three big-ticket fixtures, as he may not be able to return until the thick of October.
That means Martin Odegaard could very well be out against Tottenham on the road on Sept. 15, Atalanta on the road in the UCL on Sept. 19, Manchester City on the road on Sept. 22, and Bolton in the EFL Cup at the Emirates on Sept. 25.
Then, Arsenal stay at the Emirates on Sept. 28 for a battle with Leicester City, host another European giant in the Champions League in PSG on Oct. 1, and then faee another returning Premier League side in Southampton on Oct. 5.
By then, Arsenal will hope that their captain and top playmaker will be ready for the Oct. 19 Premier League battle against Bournemouth, with two weeks in between the fixtures against the Saints and the Cherries.
Tottenham, Atalanta, Manchester City, and PSG are all top opponents, so that’s four big matchups Arsenal will have to face without Odegaard, and they are already missing Rice against Spurs after a red card suspension.
But it’s better to have Odegaard at 100 percent for the long haul than risk him, even if the match against Man City is more important than any. Remember, there will be a second one…and so many more points at stake throughout this season.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.