Saq
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was left looking distraught after injuring his ankle during an international with Norway on Monday night. The playmaker limped off the pitch after horribly twisting his ankle during a Nations League match against Austria.
Odegaard was pictured on crutches on Tuesday morning as he returned to London from Norway. He will now be examined further by Arsenal medical staff, who fear he may have suffered a ligament injury.
Mikel Arteta will be equally upset if tests reveal the ankle problem is as serious as feared. The Arsenal manager already had a major headache ahead of a huge week for his side, with key midfielder Declan Rice suspended for Sunday’s north London derby.
The likely loss of Odegaard, along with the absence of Rice, means Arteta must now completely reconfigure his midfield ahead of the trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Depending on the severity of Odegaard’s injury, Arteta will also have to find a new formula for next week’s away games against Atalanta in the Champions League and Manchester City.
The importance of Odegaard and Rice is illustrated by the fact that they both started 34 of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League games last season. To cap it all, Arsenal are also without new signing Mikel Merino, who suffered a serious shoulder injury in his first training session at the club.
Here, Telegraph Sport assesses Arteta’s options as he seeks to tackle a midfield crisis that has derailed his early-season plans.
Jorginho has yet to play a single competitive minute this season, but that could change this weekend. The 32-year-old is regarded as an important figure at Arsenal for his leadership and experience, and Arsenal may need to rely on those qualities in the high-pressure environment of a north London derby.
The problem for Arsenal is that Jorginho is better at the base of the midfield three, where Thomas Partey has played this season. Could one of them play further up the pitch, in one of the more advanced roles usually occupied by Rice and Odegaard? That seems unlikely.
The addition of Jorginho alongside Partey may therefore require a switch to two defensive midfielders, transforming Arsenal’s usual 4-3-3 into a 4-2-3-1. This is not ideal, for two reasons. First, because the rest of Arsenal’s players are so entrenched in their usual system. Second, because Partey and Jorginho have played very little together.
The two midfielders, who are the longest-serving outfield players in Arteta’s squad, have only started two competitive games together. Both of those games came in May 2023 and on both occasions Partey played as a right-back rather than a central midfielder.
Move Havertz to midfield?
Arsenal’s initial plan for Kai Havertz, after his arrival from Chelsea last year, was to play him in midfield, on the left of the central trio. That didn’t work particularly well in the first half of last season, with the German quickly proving he was much better up front.
Since his move, Havertz has been one of the most effective strikers in Europe. He has started the season in excellent form, scoring two goals and providing one assist in three league games so far.
Putting Havertz in a deeper role would limit the German’s play, but could be necessary for the good of the team. If he were to play in midfield, it would allow Gabriel Jesus (if fit) or Leandro Trossard to start in attack.
Reuse wood or Zinchenko?
Oleksandr Zinchenko has played many games for Ukraine as a central midfielder and is an experienced option in Arsenal’s tough times. He has never started in that role for the club, however, with Arteta preferring to deploy him as a left-back who moves into more central positions when in possession.
Jurrien Timber is another full-back who could play in a deep midfield role. Like Zinchenko, Timber was brought in as a defender who could move inside. Could he start in that position? Arteta suggested as recently as last month. “He can play in different positions, his versatility is one of his biggest strengths,” the Arsenal manager said.
Of the two players, Zinchenko would be better suited to a more advanced role, higher up the pitch. The 27-year-old is capable of receiving the ball between the lines and making incisive passes forward. What he lacks, however, is the physicality and engine of players such as Rice, Havertz and Odegaard.
Sterling, Saka, Trossard: bring in an inside winger?
If Arteta doesn’t want to disrupt Havertz’s momentum, he has another candidate to play in a No. 10 role ahead of two deeper midfielders: Raheem Sterling. The England international joined Chelsea to provide competition on the wings, but he has experience as a more central attacker, and he won’t be put off by the atmosphere of a London derby.
Bukayo Saka could also play in a more central position, something he has done in the past. He is strong enough technically and physically to play in that position, although moving him from his usual role would remove Arsenal’s biggest attacking threat.
Trossard can play as an attacking midfielder and could even alternate with Havertz during the match. Against Liverpool in February, Arteta deployed a “box midfield” with two defensive players and two advanced midfielders. Such a configuration could theoretically be recreated with Partey, Jorginho, Havertz and Trossard.
Trusting Nwaneri’s youthful promise?
Perhaps the boldest option would be to bring 17-year-old wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri into Arsenal’s squad. Nwaneri is a player with huge potential and a rising force, so much so that he effectively forced Fabio Vieira out of the club in the summer. Vieira was loaned to Porto, with Arsenal unwilling to block Nwaneri’s path.
On paper, Nwaneri is the obvious replacement for Odegaard and he has impressed in that position during Arsenal’s pre-season.
There is a huge difference between a pre-season friendly and a north London derby. If Odegaard had been injured before a home game against Ipswich Town, it could have been the perfect opportunity for Nwaneri to break into the team. Choosing a trip to Tottenham to give him his first competitive start? That would be a huge show of confidence.
Telegraph Sport’s view
A reconstruction of the formation that beat Liverpool in February, with a “boxed midfield” of Trossard, Havertz, Jorginho and Partey, seems to have a good balance, without disrupting Arsenal’s attacking flow too much. Nor does it force a player into a completely unfamiliar role. In a north London derby, players have enough to worry about without having to worry about an unfamiliar set of instructions.
Saq
