Mikel Arteta handed major injury boost as Arsenal star set to return v Brentford

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Arsenal have been handed a major injury boost, as captain Martin Odegaard is now set to return for Saturday’s trip to Brentford.

The midfielder has struggled with two injuries in recent weeks: a knock to the hip which may have affected his form, and a concussion sustained in training.

It has meant that he missed Norway’s games during the international break, and has not started in Arsenal’s last five games across all competitions.

However, he has now returned to training, and will be ready for the trip across London to face Thomas Frank’s side.

Martin Odegaard set to return for Arsenal

A report from The Standard has now revealed that Odegaard is back in full training, and despite missing his country’s matches through injury, he took the opportunity to return to Norway last week as Mikel Arteta gave his players some time off.

This hopefully means that following his recent time out of the team, he will return to the outstanding performance levels he showed last season.

Odegaard has been criticised at times this season, with some fans disappointed in his overall performances, but if he can recover his best form, then it may show that his dip was simply down to the injury he was carrying.

Arsenal’s creativity issues

Arsenal have struggled with chance creation this season, with Odegaard assisting just once in nine Premier League games this season.

Odegaard has created just two big chances this season, the same number as Declan Rice, Fabio Vieira and Leandro Trossard, whom have all either played less minutes or in deeper roles than the Norweigan.

Whilst Odegaard has scored three times, he seems to have developed a tendency to shoot more rather than pass when in the final third. This may mean he ends up scoring more, but as a whole, Arsenal as a team are creating less.

It is not all down to Odegaard though. The departure of Granit Xhaka and the loss of Thomas Partey to injury have both affected Arsenal’s ball progression through the middle, despite the brilliance of Rice.

Odegaard is now working in an entirely new midfield shape, and Kai Havertz has also struggled to adapt.

If Odegaard can return to his old form alongside Rice and Jorginho in the middle, then Arsenal may return to their flowing best in attack. Arsenal have the best defence in the Premier League, and once they iron out these issues, they will be a serious threat for the rest of the season.