Arsenal are preparing to face Southampton in the Premier League this weekend.
The Gunners are still unbeaten this season and coming fresh from a comfortable win against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in the midweek.
Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka ensured the win for Arteta’s team against the French champions.
Arsenal received a major boost in the Champions League after new signing Mikel Merino made his debut for the club following his return from an injury.
Captain Martin Odegaard is still out with a long term injury and his return is still not known.
Ahead of the match against Southampton, the Arsenal manager has provided the update about his captain.
Arteta said, as reported by The Independent:
“Martin is very difficult. I expected him to still have a boot on and other things – he’s working hard, feeling good and pushing. It’s difficult to give a timeline.”
Odegaard suffered an injury on international duty with Norway and he is expected to be out for weeks.
In his absence, the Gunners have played well and managed to get impressive results against Aston Villa, Tottenham, Manchester City, Atalanta and Paris Saint-Germain.
Arteta will be happy to come out unbeaten against all those teams despite missing the captain of the club.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had some positive update
The Gunners boss also provided an update on the injured Oleksandr Zinchenko and he had something positive to say about his fullback.
🚨🔴⚪️ Arteta on Ødegaard’s return: “It’s very difficult with Martin to say when he will be back… but he’s working so hard to be ready as soon as possible, he’s pushing”.
“Zinchenko could be ready after the international break”. ⏳🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/8nrbArzNSf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 4, 2024
Arsenal are 3rd in the league and they are expected to put more misery into Southampton’s already miserable season so far.
The Gunners could go top of the league if Liverpool fail to beat Crystal Palace in the early kick-off.
