What Is Arsenal’s Plan To Cope Without Injured Martin Odegaard?
by Graham Ruthven · ForbesMartin Odegaard has been notable in his absence for Arsenal. Indeed, the Gunners have accumulated an Expected Goals (xG) of just 1.52 over their last two games with the Norwegian out of the team through injury. Odegaard was Arsenal’s creator-in-chief and without them Mikel Arteta doesn’t have much creativity to call on.
This is a major worry at this fragile point of the season. Manchester City has a 100% record at the top of the Premier League table with Erling Haaland firing on all cylinders for the defending champions. Arsenal, meanwhile, dropped points in a match at home to Brighton and is already chasing City ahead of Sunday’s meeting between the two rivals.
Arsenal has built out its squad depth over the past two seasons, but Arteta doesn’t have another player like Odegaard. Declan Rice is capable of playing in a more advanced role, but he doesn’t have the creative eye of Odegaard. The same could be said of Mikel Merino who still hasn’t played for Arsenal since joining from Real Sociedad last month.
Odegaard’s badly timed injury now gives Emile Smith Rowe’s summer departure to Fulham a different complexion. While it’s true the 24-year-old needed to leave the Emirates Stadium to further his own individual career, Arsenal could have used him as an option right now. Should the Gunners have kept Smith Rowe around?
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Fabio Vieira is another player who might have eased Arsenal’s current woes, but the 24-year-old was loaned to Porto for the 2024/25 season. Vieira only started two games in the Premier League last season and was very much a peripheral figure in Arteta’s squad. Nonetheless, this is a scenario he could have helped tackle.
It’s not yet known how long Odegaard’s ankle injury, sustained on international duty with Norway, will keep him sidelined for, but Arsenal needs a plan to handle his absence. Arteta set up his team to be difficult to beat against Tottenham Hotspur and Atalanta, but the Gunners need more than this in an attacking sense.
Many believed Arsenal was in a position to finally win the Premier League title this season, but Arteta is now facing one of his biggest challenges as manager of the North London club. The Gunners might not have anticipated Odegaard picking up an injury, but they now need to find a way to get by until his return in a few months’ time. Arsenal’s season is already on the line.