Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard reveals why he has decided to withdraw from his national team’s UEFA Nations League squad this month.
Odegaard, 25, picked up an ankle problem earlier in September and missed seven weeks of action. He returned in his club’s 1-0 UEFA Champions League away loss at Inter Milan on November 6 before starting Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw at London rivals Chelsea.
The former Real Madrid man was initially left out of Norway’s squad for their UEFA Nations League games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan. But, he travelled to Oslo to be assessed by his team’s medical department.
Shedding light on the assessment, Odegaard said (h/t BBC):
“After discussions with the medical staff at the national team, we have unfortunately come to the conclusion that the situation is not good enough to play these games. I’ve been through a long training period and when you haven’t practiced football in the last nine weeks, it’s natural not to be 100% yet. I need to listen to my body, complete this rehab process and get my foot back in good shape.”
Odegaard, who has missed 12 total outings for Arsenal this season, has made five appearances across competitions for his club this campaign. He has started four of them and has provided one assist so far.
Arsenal backed to still lift Premier League title
After Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea, Blues great Frank Lampard refused to rule out the Gunners’ chances of winning the Premier League title. He told Premier League Productions (h/t Metro):
“After a tough run, I don’t think we should forget who they are and what they’ve built. Good team, they’ve got a very good coach, a physical team, a strong team. Maybe there’s some points, the number nine we talk about that typically teams need to win the league, an absolute number nine, they don’t have that option so much.”
Hinting leaders Liverpool could stumble in the future, Lampard added:
“But other than that, it’s nine points to Liverpool [at the top], who have not [experienced] that moment, that blip [yet]. That could be at some stage for them, so they certainly shouldn’t give up that hope.”
Arsenal, who finished on 89 points last campaign, are in fourth spot in the 2024-25 Premier League standings with 19 points from 11 matches.
Liverpool, on the other hand, are on 28 points from 11 games. Manchester City are second with 23 points, while Chelsea are also on 19 points.
Edited by Debkalpa Banerjee
