Arteta hopeful Odegaard injury not as bad as feared

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta refused to rule captain Martin Odegaard out of Sunday’s north London derby at Tottenham despite fears the key midfielder could be sidelined for weeks.
Odegaard suffered an ankle sprain on international duty with Norway earlier this week that looked set to also rule him out of tough away trips to Atalanta in the Champions League and a Premier League visit to Manchester City on September 22. However, Arteta, who signed a new three-year deal on Thursday, said further tests were needed to discover the extent of the injury.
“We need some more tests,” said the Spaniard. “Let’s see the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back. Martin wants to be here every day but we have to wait and see. I leave that to the doctor. He’s willing and he wants to be present in every game. We need to make sure we know first how good he is or not. Players with 48 hours are always available. Let’s see what happens.”
Arsenal are already depleted in midfield for the north London derby due to Declan Rice’s suspension for a harsh red card in a 1-1 draw with Brighton before the international break. New signing Mikel Merino is also currently sidelined after breaking a bone in his shoulder.
However, Arteta could unleash another fresh face in Raheem Sterling, who joined in the final hours of the transfer window on loan from Chelsea. The former England international had been outcast by Blues boss Enzo Maresca due to Chelsea’s bloated squad.
Sterling previously worked with Arteta during their time together at Manchester City and the Gunners boss believes the winger is fired up to silence his critics.
“He looks great. First of all because he has a big smile on his face, a lot of energy. He’s at it and he wants to prove a point,” added Arteta. “When someone has got that in his belly you sense it straight away. Obviously, I don’t need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.”
Gabriel Jesus has returned to training in a timely fitness boost for Arteta, but Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori is a doubt after picking up a calf injury on international duty.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur’s new striker Dominic Solanke is back in training and should be available for north London derby against Arsenal, manager Ange Postecoglou said. Solanke signed from Bournemouth in a deal worth up to 65mn pounds but after making his debut against Leicester City he missed the next two games with an ankle injury. Postecoglou will also have defender Micky van de Ven available again after he missed the defeat at Newcastle United before the international break.
Tottenham have had a mixed start to the season, picking up four points out of the nine available with a failure to convert enough of their 48 goal attempts in those games costing them. “Results come sooner rather than later. We’ve got to stay consistent in our approach. We dominated all three games,” Postecoglou, who is looking for his first win in the north London derby, said. “Results haven’t come but if we maintain that over 38 games we’ll be in a good position. We’ve got to keep at it. Stay focused on the important elements of our game.”
Tottenham had marginally the better of the away clash with Arsenal last season, a game that ended in a draw, but lost 3-2 at home after trailing 3-0 at halftime. Arsenal have re-emerged as Premier League title contenders under Mikel Arteta and Postecoglou said the Spaniard has instilled a relentless mentality in his squad. “They have this confidence in themselves that they can challenge over the course of the season,” Postecoglou said. “They’re going to be a tough nut to crack, but it’s a great opportunity for us.”
Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will likely start for Tottenham on Sunday despite facing Football Association charges for comments he made about teammate Son Heung-min during an interview in his home country.

Fixtures (all times GMT)
Saturday: Southampton v Man Utd (1130), Brighton v Ipswich, Crystal Palace v Leicester, Fulham v West Ham, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Man City v Brentford (all 1400), Aston Villa v Everton (1630), Bournemouth v Chelsea (1900)
Sunday: Tottenham v Arsenal (1300), Wolves v Newcastle (1530