Soccer-Odegaard suffers fresh injury scare for Arsenal

By Martyn Herman LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard's injury curse struck again as the midfielder was forced off with a knee injury during the first half of his side's 2-0 Premier League win against West Ham United on Saturday. Odegaard clashed knees with a West Ham player in a tackle and although the Norwegian tried to continue he was eventually replaced by Martin Zubimendi after 30 minutes. "It's uncomfortable, I just spoke to him and he's not positive about it and was wearing a brace," manager Mikel Arteta told reporters. "We'll have to wait and see the extent of the injury. We'll find solutions but obviously he's our captain and brings a different dimension with the things he can do." Odegaard's injury was especially disappointing after his scintillating display against Olympiakos in the Champions League in midweek when he had returned to the starting line-up and inspired his side to a 2-0 win. In his last three Premier League starts, Odegaard has failed to reach halftime, having injured his shoulder against Leeds United in August and suffering a recurrence of that injury against Nottingham Forest last month. There was a further worry for Arteta on his 300th game in charge with Declan Rice, scorer of the opening goal, also having to go off in the second half with a back niggle. "No, he's not alright, because he asked me to come off," Arteta said. "That's a shame. He had pain in his back. Let's see what the doctor says now and what is best for him." While the injuries did rather take the gloss off Arsenal's win, the fact that they were able to shrug off those setbacks with ease to move top of the table showed the depth of quality Arteta now has at his disposal. Gabriel Martinelli, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino also came off the bench in the second half. "The players who came on contributed to maintaining the standards. Let's look forward to the international break," Arteta said. (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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