Tottenham have the best chance in a long while to beat Arsenal amid the big problems now bubbling for their rivals.
Martin Odegaard hobbled off with an injury for Norway on Monday during his side’s UEFA Nations League encounter against Austria.
The Arsenal captain seemed to have rolled over on his ankle and went off the pitch in tears, with huge games coming up for Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal face Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday and they are already with the suspended Declan Rice for that fixture.
Added to that, their Champions League campaign begins next week and then it’s the toughest game of their calendar – an away trip to the Etihad to take on Manchester City.
All of these are away games, even with Odegaard, these matches were already going to be tough and now fans are going to fear the worst.
The Arsenal fans will be trawling social media and anything else they can like crazy to get an update on Odegaard’s situation.
Jermaine Pennant would have been in such a situation during his playing days and he shared his pennies worth on Odegaard.
The former winger is worried that the Arsenal playmaker has suffered ‘ligament damage’ and, from what he has seen, ‘it looks a bad one’, as he told talkSPORT.
It doesn’t help the fact that the player himself was crying because he probably knows pretty much straightaway that it doesn’t feel good.
Martin Odegaard goes off injured for Norway
“As soon as he has gone over, I have seen it myself, he has rolled his ankle,” said Pennant. “It looks a bad one.
“It’s definitely, from what I can tell, I am no physio, but it looks like ligament damage. Sometimes you can have a little sprain. A speedy recovery. Yes, it might hurt and you might have to hobble off.
“But this one looked (bad), for him to be crying, you know it’s more than a little sprain. It looks like ligament damage.”
A big test for Mikel Arteta
Arsenal narrowly missed out on the Premier League title last season, as they battled Manchester City and Liverpool throughout the season.
Arteta had to deal with Jurrien Timber being absent all season long, as well as injuries here and there, but nothing like what their rivals had to endure.
READ MORE: Jason Cundy lets rip at Arsenal’s Declan Rice after he is booed on England duty
The likes of Manchester City and Liverpool will be saying this is why Arsenal have a squad and now it’s time for Arteta to prove his worth with a weaker team.
If he can’t cope, then rivals will be ready to pile on the Gunners, who can probably make a statement by winning without their star players at the weekend.
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