The games Martin Odegaard will miss as Arsenal dealt injury blow

Martin Odegaard is going to miss a string of Arsenal games (Picture: Getty Images)

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is expected to be sidelined until mid-November due to the knee injury he is struggling with.

The Norwegian has been blighted by fitness issues so far this season, with shoulder problems followed by this current knee injury.

The 26-year-old had to be substituted in the first half of Arsenal’s win over West Ham on October 4 and it was unclear how long he was likely to be out for.

The BBC now reports that Odegaard will not be back until after the November international break, which means a possible return in the north London derby against Tottenham on November 23.

It is a blow for Mikel Arteta , who is facing a very busy schedule over the next month across a range of competitions.

After the current international break, the Gunners are back into Premier League action on Saturday in a London derby at Fulham.

Then come outings in the Champions League, Premier League and Carabao Cup before the end of October.

Arsenal are dealing with a number of injuries at the moment, with Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke all out of action with knee problems.

Havertz and Madueke are expected back at a similar time to Odegaard, while Jesus is unlikely to return from his long-term issue this year.

Nevertheless, their impressive spending in the summer means Arteta’s squad is still well-stocked, despite the four injuries to creative, attack-minded players.

Odegaard has been badly hampered by injury so far this season (Picture: PA Wire)

The Gunners started the 2-0 win over West Ham with a midfield three of Odegaard, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze, behind Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard.

They have the squad depth to bring off the bench Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Ethan Nwaneri.

Arteta will be frustrated to lose Odegaard again, though, having sung his praises after an impressive performance against Olympiacos earlier this month.

Mikel Arteta had been thrilled to have his captain fit and firing again (Picture: Getty Images)

Arteta said of his captain after the 2-0 victory in the Champions League: ‘He’s got all the licence in the world to go forward, Martin, and to play with that freedom, and to play with that level of threat especially, not only with the passes, but the way he was taking the ball, carrying the ball, making runs and arriving in really dangerous areas.

‘I think he put three people through today to score a goal. He should have scored a goal as well.