Arsenal are off until a week from Saturday, when they’ll welcome in the Tricky Trees, as they look to get back into the Premier League title race. But between now and then, we can do go over the latest injury updates. Today we’ll spotlight Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Martin Odegaard
The club captain is back fit, after recovering from an ankle injury that forced him to miss 12 games. He did not join up with Norway for this international window. He stayed back at Colney training ground to further build up fitness.
“After discussions with the medical staff at the national team, we have unfortunately come to the conclusion that the situation is not good enough to play these games,” Odegaard said.
“I’ve been through a long training period and when you haven’t practiced football in the last nine weeks, it’s natural not to be 100 percent yet. I need to listen to my body, complete this rehab process and get my foot back in good shape.”
Bukayo Saka
He’s got a leg injury, which forced him to miss out on England duty this time around. The same could be said for his teammate, for both club and country, Declan Rice. Both are expected to be fit and available for the next game, however.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Kieran Tierney
The Scottish fullback is recovering nicely from his hamstring injury and could return once the internationals are over.
Riccardo Calafiori
You can add Calafiori into the same grouping with Tierney and Tomiyasu: all three are long term injury absentees but could easily be back in the mix for Arsenal’s very next game, at home to Nottingham Forest on November 23.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.