Injury latest on 4 Arsenal stars ahead of Spurs clash | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has given updates on four of Arsenal’s injured players ahead of the north London derby, providing a mixed picture.

Norway’s Martin Odegaard and Austria’s Philipp Lienhart vie for the ball during the UEFA Nations League, League B, Group B3 football match Norway vs Austria at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway on September 9, 2024. (Photo by TERJE PEDERSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal have quite a number of injury concerns ahead of the north London derby, and perhaps the foremost among them is that of Martin Odegaard.

The Arsenal captain suffered an injury on international duty with Norway, and early signs suggest he could be out for a few weeks.

That would be bad news for the Gunners, with away games against Spurs, Atalanta, and Manchester City coming up in the next week alone.

Mikel Arteta addressed Odegaard’s injury in his pre-Spurs press conference.

“We need some more tests so let’s see what happens in the next day or so,” Arteta said. “Let’s see what happens, what the extent of the injury is and how quickly we can get him back.

“He’s super positive about everything. We know Martin – he wants to be there every single day but we have to wait and see.

“He’s willing, there’s no question about that. He wants to be present every game and obviously in a big game like this one, but we need to make sure that we know first of all how good he can be or not.

“Players with 48 hours to go are always available, but let’s see what happens.”

Mikel Merino at the Arsenal training centre (Photo via Arsenal.co.uk)

Summer signing Mikel Merino is another Arsenal midfield injury concern, and the former Newcastle United man will certainly miss the north London derby.

Arteta suggested the injury isn’t causing too many problems for Merino at the moment, but his recovery won’t be quick.

“It’s a slow process because it’s a bone and it takes a while to heal,” Arteta admitted. “He is progressing well and is already doing some stuff.

“It’s very difficult to understand the healing of the bone. I think at the moment he doesn’t have a lot of symptoms so you can speed it up very quickly because he hasn’t lost anything else but we have to wait and see.”

LONDON, ENGLAND: Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the third goal during the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium on August 07, 2024. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

In better news, Arteta revealed that Gabriel Jesus is back in training ahead of the game, and he should be available against Spurs if all goes well.

“Gabby was out there,” Arteta confirmed. “He’s got another session tomorrow and if everything goes well he will be ready to be selected in this squad which is great news for us.”

Finally, Riccardo Calafiori picked up a minor injury on international duty and had to pull out of Italy’s camp to return to Arsenal.

The hope is that it’s nothing too serious and he’ll be available for the weekend, but Arteta didn’t have much to add on the subject, saying only: “We’ll have to wait and see.”