Arsenal Captain Martin Odegaard is expected to miss the Tuesday visit from Shakhtar Donetsk, as the Gunners push to try and get him healthy for the HUGE clash with Liverpool on Sunday. Although even that could still be too early for him. Meanwhile there are concerns surrounding star players Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, who missed Arsenal’s surprise defeat to Bournemouth yesterday.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta gave updates on all three, we’ll start with Odegaard.
UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 of 8
Shakhtar Donetsk at Arsenal FC
Kickoff: Tues. Oct. 22, 8pm, Emirates Stadium, London, UK,
Arsenal Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
UCL Standing, Form: Arsenal 13th, 14 pts, +2 GD, DW Shakhtar Donetsk 27th, 1 pts, -3 GD, DL
Arsenal Team News
“He’s not gonna be fit for this game,” Arteta said of Odegaard, ahead of the loss to Bournemouth. “Next week will be a different story. He needs to clear some markers doing things with the ball in that latter stage of rehab. Next week will be crucial.”
Hmmm. Stay tuned.
Arteta in reference to Timber on Friday: “Today we’ll have to push. We are struggling a bit with the numbers, especially on our right side.” Regarding Saka, Arteta said “We tried the last few days, but he didn’t have the right feelings, so there was no point pushing him.”
Most likely, we won’t see either Timber or Saka on Tuesday night.
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 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.