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Why Martin Odegaard misses Arsenal’s game against Wolves

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London, England, 22nd January 2025. Arsenal's Martin Odegaard during the UEFA Champions League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture credit should read: David Klein / Sportimage
Martin Odegaard missed Arsenal’s Premier League games against Wolves (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal were without skipper Martin Odegaard for Saturday’s Premier League game against Wolves.

The Norway international had scored on each of his last two visits to Molineux, but the Gunners were forced to cope without their main playmaker against the relegation strugglers.

Odegaard played the full 90 minutes against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek and scored his side’s third goal, his first from open play this season.

Follow the latest updates and score of Wolves vs Arsenal on Metro’s live blog

The 26-year-old missed the trip to the Black Country, however, due to sickness as Mikel Arteta was forced into yet another change.

Arsenal were also minus the services of summer signing Mikel Merino but there were welcome returns for William Saliba and Ethan Nwaneri.

‘Martin was ill this morning and we had to send him back – he was nowhere near fit to play,’ Arteta confirmed shortly before kick-off.

‘Mikel [Merino] as well, because he got a knock and couldn’t make it yesterday for training.’

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The France international defender had missed two games with the hamstring injury he picked up during the closing stages of the north London derby earlier this month.

Saliba partnered Gabriel at the heart of Arsenal’s defence with the Brazilian wearing the armband in Odegaard’s absence.

Nwaneri’s return represented an equally welcome boost given the 17-year-old had begun to make a decent fist of deputising for Bukayo Saka before he sustained a muscle injury against Brighton last month.

Myles Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, started at left-back after scans revealed there was no last damage to his knee after he missed the Champions League win over Dinamo.

Arsenal FC v Ipswich Town FC - Premier League
William Saliba was back in the Arsenal starting XI after missing two games with a hamstring injury (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal FC v Tottenham Hotspur FC - Premier League
Myles Lewis-Skelly started at left-back after missing the win over Dinamo Zagreb (Picture: Getty)

Oleksandr Zinchenko, therefore, was relegated to the bench amid speculation he could move to Borussia Dortmund before the transfer deadline.

For Wolves, meanwhile, Matheus Cunha started despite the conjecture about his own future.

Arsenal are among a number of clubs said to be monitoring his situation but Wolves boss Vitor Pereira insisted at his pre-match press conference that he has no intention of selling the former Atletico Madrid forward.

Asked if there had been any bids for the Brazilian, Pereira told a press conference on Friday: ‘I don’t know, he’s my player and he’s not for sale. He’s committed to us.

‘He’s never asked to leave the club, he wants to help the team, he wants to be with us.’

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