LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said on Friday that captain Martin Odegaard could be missing until after the November international break due to the Norwegian’s latest injury setback.
Odegaard set an unwanted record by becoming the first player in Premier League history to be substituted before half-time in three consecutive starts when he came off with a knee injury against West Ham on October 3.
The 26-year-old had previously struggled with a recurring shoulder problem this season.
“It will be weeks. No definite date for his return, but he’s evolving well. Very unlucky, what’s happening with him and his injuries this season,” Arteta said ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Fulham on Saturday.
“It could be (after the next international break), but we’ll have to see how he progresses, how the knee’s healing, how he manages after the next steps in his rehab, so too early to give an answer,” he added.
Despite Odegaard’s disrupted start to the season and other injuries to Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, William Saliba and Noni Madueke, Arsenal have stormed to the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners lead title rivals Liverpool by one point after seven games as they seek to go one better after finishing third for three consecutive seasons.
Viktor Gyokeres was signed to end Arsenal’s need for a prolific striker.
The Swede, though, has so far scored just three times in 10 appearances and has not netted in his last eight matches for club and country.
Arteta backed the 27-year-old to come good and claimed to have been pleased with Gyokeres’ all-round performances so far.
“He brings so much to the team and watching the games back, I’m very pleased with what he’s given to the team,” added Arteta.
“I told him before the first meeting, ‘the nine that I want is a nine that when he doesn’t score for six or eight games, he can handle that. If not, you have to go somewhere else because the pressure, the expectation is going to be there.’
“If you put the number nine shirt on for Arsenal, you have to be able to say: ‘six games I don’t score, am I different player? Do I act in a different way?’
“I want much more of the same of what he’s doing. Once we have those opportunities, put them in. I’m sure it’s going to happen.”
‘Very unlucky’ Odegaard faces weeks out, says Arteta
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‘Very unlucky’ Odegaard faces weeks out, says Arteta
- “It will be weeks. No definite date for his return, but he’s evolving well,” Arteta said
- The Gunners lead title rivals Liverpool by one point after seven games
Gooch, Detry and Uihlein share lead at halfway stage in Riyadh
- Smash GC lead the team competition at LIV Golf Riyadh with score of 30-under
RIYADH: Three shots separate the top 13 players after 36 holes here for the LIV Golf season opener.
The competition shifted up a gear for the second round of the Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh 2026, as the world’s best continued to battle under the lights, with cooler and windier conditions in round two.
With the event reaching its midway point, the leaderboard has begun to take shape, setting the stage for a high-stakes weekend in the Saudi capital.
Talor Gooch (Smash GC) has joined overnight leaders Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) and Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) after Thursday night’s round, carding a consecutive five-under 67 to move to 10-under for the tournament with 36 holes to play.
Sitting one back from the leaders on nine-under after carding an under-four 68 in round two, Sebastian Munoz (Torque GC) reflected on his round: “It started a bit slow with a bogey on No. 2. I hit a bad bunker shot.
“Then after that I made some good birdies and kept it moving along. The wind came over, and I was able to kind of keep my focus and keep hitting good shots and keep giving myself good chances, and made some birdies on the back.
“Then I made some solid pars coming in. So really happy where the game is at.”
Meanwhile, first-round co-leader Detry remained firmly in the hunt, following up his opening 65 with a steady three-under 69 as he continues to embrace the atmosphere on course.
“Got off to a pretty shaky start. It was a bogey-free round yesterday, but today I felt a little uncomfortable early on. I managed to sort of settle the ship then with two birdies on holes No. 4 and 5, and then just fought hard.
The temperature sort of dropped after nine holes and the wind picked up, as well. I wasn’t really expecting that. It was sort of a bit of a fight out there, which was nice. I like it.”
“I was sort of out there taking care of my business, and suddenly I saw the leaderboard with the 4Aces GC popping up, and that sort of reminded me that I was also playing for the team, which is great.”
After shooting a five-under 67 for the second time in his two rounds Gooch commented: “Yeah, it was a really solid day. Really good ball control. The only bogey made was a three-putt from about 15 feet (4.5 meters).
“Made life really simple today. Hit a bumping of greens, gave myself some good looks and made a few. These are the type of days of golf that you wish you could have more of.”
On his first experience as captain of Smash GC, he said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year through the first two rounds. We’ve still got a lot of golf left, so we’ve got to go and continue to play great.
“But like I said, I couldn’t have predicted or hoped for a better start. It’s a great start, and hopefully we can continue going and just set the tone for a great year after this first week.”
Gooch’s Smash GC teammate Jason Kokrak fired a bogey-free eight-under to storm the leaderboard and get within two shots of the leaders. “It was really good. Got into a couple sticky situations but made a couple of nice par saves,” he said.
“Got hot for about a nine- or 10-hole stretch. Drove the ball very nicely. Way better than yesterday. So very pleased with how I played.”
Uihlein is eager to bring his fine form into the weekend after shooting a three-under 69 in round two. When asked about the potential of bringing home his first LIV Golf trophy, he said: “Yeah, it would be awesome.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to win individually. We want to win as a team. But winning individually? Yeah, that’s what the goal is, to win.
“Now that we get world ranking points, you can jump up in the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) and try to get in the majors. That’s definitely the goal.”
In the team standings, Smash GC (-30) took a commanding lead after those low scores from Kokrak and Gooch. Torque GC (-27) and 4Aces GC (-23) stay firmly in the race for the podium with all four player scores counting for all four rounds this season.
Round 2 – Individual Leaderboard:
1 – Talor Gooch (Smash GC) | R2 (-5) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
Round 1 – Team Leaderboard:
1 – Smash GC (-30)
2 – Torque GC (-27)
3 – 4Aces GC (-23)
