Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard faces a fitness test ahead of Saturday’s Premier League showdown with Bournemouth. The midfielder, who recently returned from injury during the FA Cup loss to Southampton, started Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon but left the pitch with 20 minutes remaining, appearing to suffer knee discomfort. Kai Havertz replaced him and scored the late winning goal.
Odegaard and Others Miss Training
Odegaard did not join first-team training sessions ahead of the Bournemouth clash, a match that offers Arsenal a chance to stretch their lead at the top of the table to 12 points—though they have played two more games than Manchester City, who face Chelsea on Sunday. Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie, and Riccardo Calafiori also sat out training, having missed the previous two fixtures.
Positive Eze Update Boosts Squad
More encouraging news emerges for Eberechi Eze, the summer signing from Crystal Palace. The winger, sidelined by a calf injury since his standout performance in Arsenal’s Champions League last-16 second-leg win over Bayer Leverkusen last month, appeared in Thursday’s training session. Initially thought to be out for up to six weeks after missing the Wembley final and England’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, Eze’s return provides a significant lift.
Arteta Praises Champions League Triumph
Mikel Arteta hailed the Sporting Lisbon win as a pivotal moment. ‘It was a big night, a big moment in the season. Especially where we’re coming from. I think we had a point to prove,’ Arteta stated. ‘And yesterday I talked about identity and the things that I wanted to see on that pitch. It certainly happened. Certainly there was a shift there. And then we played our opponent. It’s very tricky, very difficult to play. That’s the reason why they won 17 games in a row here. They haven’t lost for a long, long time and really had to earn it. We had moments of real dominance with a lot of situations in and around the box without creating enough threat sometimes. Lacking to be a bit crispier, the movement a bit sharper, the final ball. But we took the game where we wanted. But after saying that, we knew as well that it’s a team extremely dangerous when they have space to run and they have two situations where David had to intervene in a brilliant way. And then, again, the story of the season, the finish is coming when the most important part of the game is about to happen and then make the difference for us to go and win it.’
