Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has claimed that playmaker Martin Odegaard has been very up and down ahead of facing Fulham.
The Gunners make the short trip to Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon as Arteta’s men take on Fulham.
Marco Silva’s men will be a very tricky challenge for Arsenal – especially coming off a Europa League clash against Sporting.
Arsenal are still facing a number of absences with Leandro Trossard, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus all out injured.
That severely dents Arsenal’s attacking options and there is a big problem in midfield too.
Martin Odegaard missed Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Sporting through illness and Arsenal are left nervously waiting to find out if he is able to play.
Mikel Arteta comments on Martin Odegaard illness
Arsenal boss Arteta has now spoken to the club’s official website about Odegaard’s situation.
Arteta claims that Odegaard was feeling better, raising hopes that he would be available to play against Fulham.
However, Odegaard then started to feel ‘a little bit worse’ again and it was unclear whether he would train today ahead of Sunday’s game.
“Martin was feeling better and then he became a little bit worse, but hopefully he is able to train today,” said Arteta.
This up-and-down nature of Odegaard’s illness makes it a little difficult for Arsenal to plan their approach against Fulham.
The Norwegian is absolutely vital to Arsenal’s tactical setup, offering great creativity in the final third.
Losing Odegaard would be a major blow even if we know Fabio Vieira has major potential in that area of the pitch.
It may well be that Odegaard has to sit on the bench against Fulham and maybe come off the bench in the second half.
That would be better than nothing, but Arteta will be wary of rushing Odegaard back when rest may actually be the best thing for him – not to mention limiting the risk of spreading the illness to other teammates.
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