Arsenal will be without their captain Martin Odegaard until after the November international break.
Odegaard has been ruled out for at least six weeks after sustaining an MCL injury against West Ham prior to the current international break.
The Norwegian collided with Hammers winger Crysencio Summerville early in the clash at the Emirates, forcing him off the pitch with a fitness issue for the third time this season.
He’ll subsequently miss key home games against Atletico Madrid and Crystal Palace, as well as trips to Fulham and Slavia Prague.
Arsenal fans are confident they can cope without Martin Odegaard
Odegaard sustained a serious ankle injury in September last season.
Ruled out for over two months, Gunners supporters were in dismay when news of this setback about their primary playmaker broke.
Fast forward 13 months, and there’s a lot more serenity around the player being absent for a number of weeks.
Arsenal signed Eberechi Eze in the summer, while Ethan Nwaneri continues to develop positively. These two players can fill the creative void left by Odegaard, and thus, fans of the North London club aren’t losing their heads over the injury news.
Taking to social media, many fans expressed frustration with the news, although they concluded that they should be able to cope without their skipper.
One fan wrote on X: “Typical Odegaard is out again for so long. I just want to see our best 11 play football for once. On the bright side, this is the run of games he’s going to miss. Still some very difficult fixtures, but it could have been a lot worse.”
Another added: “If you look at the fixtures Odegaard is going to miss, it’s actually not too bad at all. Should be well able to win them with Eze at 10.”
One supporter posited: “Odegaard out may give Eze a real chance to shine in that 10 position until Christmas.”
Another wrote: “Eze and Nwaneri time to shine. We’ll be just fine without Odegaard. Shows how far our squad depth has come.”
Meanwhile, one fan wished Odegaard a speedy recovery: “Odegaard has been so unlucky. This season looked like it was going to be a fantastic one for him, a massive comeback from last season. However, it’s been filled with injuries. I’m sure he’ll come back stronger.”
Martin Odegaard’s injury gives Ethan Nwaneri a huge opportunity
While Eze will likely be the man to take most of Odegaard’s minutes centrally, he won’t be able to play every minute in every competition between now and the 26-year-old’s return.
Nwaneri will have to start at least two or three of the games in this period, giving the teenager a huge opportunity to stake a claim to feature more regularly.
The starlet has only managed 189 minutes of Premier League football so far this season, largely limited to cameos off the bench.
He’ll need more minutes to continue his development, and he may now get some due to Odegaard’s absence.
It’ll be up to Nwaneri to take these chances and showcase what he can do to Mikel Arteta.
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