Premier League picks, predictions: How will Arsenal line up without Martin Odegaard against Tottenham?

With the North London Derby looming, Mikel Arteta was in usually blunt form when asked to discuss Martin Odegaard’s availability for Arsenal’s visit to Tottenham.

“We still need some tests, so let’s see what happens in the next day,” Arteta said of Odegaard, who limped out of Norway’s Nations League match against Austria on Monday with an ankle injury. “Let’s see what happens, what the extent of the injury is and how quickly we can get him back. He is super positive about everything. We know Martin, he wants to be there every day, but we have to wait and see.”

“He is willing, there is no doubt about that. He wants to be there every game and of course in a big game like this, but first we have to make sure we know how good he can be or not.

“Players with 48 hours to go are always available, but let’s see what happens.”

However, if the Norwegian team doctor is to be believed, there is no real chance that Odegaard will be available not only for the derby, but also for two more crucial away games in the seven days that follow, trips to Atalanta in the Champions League (you can see all the action is over Biggest+, CBS Sports Networkand CBS Sports Golazo Network) and Manchester City. The latter offers the opportunity to add jetting power to Arsenal’s title campaign. How much better could their chances look with one of the Premier League’s best creators in their squad?

The fact that Odegaard is still being assessed four days after sustaining the injury suggests there is some doubt the minimum timeline of three weeks that Ola Sand has constructed, but that cuts both ways. Arsenal must certainly prepare for a meaningful spell without a player who has missed just three Premier League squads since his permanent arrival in the summer of 2021.

A common refrain from Arsenal’s two second-place finishes is that they were achieved in large part because Mikel Arteta’s side avoided a major availability crisis. That’s more than a little exaggeration – their transformative No. 9 Gabriel Jesus hasn’t played at full form and fitness for much of the past season and a half – but what’s broadly true is that Arsenal have avoided a series of hammer blows. blows in the same position. Jurrien Timber may have missed all of last season, but if there’s one club that has the full back capacity to cope, it’s this one. Form and fitness might have let Gabriel Martinelli down, but Leandro Trossard was at his best.

Odegaard’s absence, especially in the North London derby, is very different. With Mikel Merino out for another six weeks and Declan Rice suspended, Arsenal are looking bleak about their midfield numbers anyway. Now they are required to raise as much as they can from the limited player pool available to them.

The immediately obvious answer might be to replace Odegaard with the other senior player who was previously the focal playmaker for a top side in Kai Havertz, who ran the show for Bayer Leverkusen before moving to the Premier League. When Havertz joined Arsenal from Chelsea in the summer of 2023, his vision and that of the club was for him to play deeper in midfield. Circumstances are changing and the 25-year-old has now firmly established himself as the Gunners’ first-choice striker. No wonder. Not only is he more of a goalscoring threat at the top of the pitch, he is also delivering greater creative output.

Havertz shines brighter up front

Per 90 Premier League minutes since 2020-2021 season

Gabriel Jesus’ return to training is perhaps the only pleasant headache the international break has presented. Perhaps the simplest solution would be the most effective: push Havertz deeper, and even if that means you get a less effective version of him, that can be offset if Jesus looks anything like his best self.

There are other alternatives to redeployment from the front lines. If not Havertz, perhaps Trossard could be the one to nominally take Odegaard’s place. Combine the Belgian and German and such positional indications may be of limited value. In the early months of 2024, Trossard and Havertz created gleeful chaos for the opposition defenders as something akin to a pair of tens (add Odegaard to that mix, as they did impressively in obliterating West Ham, and you have an almost inconspicuous triumvirate). Such an approach could work well if Rice is available for selection after Sunday.

In the meantime, the obvious approach would be to move Jorginho into the XI, perhaps slotting him a little deeper alongside Thomas Partey. Arsenal may lose some of their interconnectedness, but lining up for what would functionally be a back six and a front four could be a suitable opportunity. Tottenham will certainly feel forced to attack. Bukayo Saka had great joy on the counter during his last journey down the Seven Sisters Road. Anything that gives him more opportunities like that would be a good tactical adjustment for Arsenal.

Even that isn’t the limit of Arsenal’s options. If Arteta wants to reproduce Odegaard’s ability to slot a pass into the penalty area, why don’t they turn to Oleksandr Zinchenko? Since the latter arrived in 2022, only the Norwegian has completed more passes into the penalty area from outside than Zinchenko’s 1.9 per 90 Premier League minutes. One of Arsenal’s many, many left-backs is known for a more advanced role; it’s pretty much the same one he plays for Ukraine. Arteta has also had the chance to try him in that position and has reliably opted not to.

Then there is the wildcard option. The hope at Arsenal is that Ethan Nwaneri can one day play alongside and even in place of Odegaard. Much is being made of the 17-year-old, the youngest ever player in the Premier League, and the decision to let both Emile Smith-Rowe and Fabio Vieira leave, the latter on a season-long loan to Portugal, was a commitment for Nwaneri. His time is coming, but is a full Premier League debut in the homeland of Arsenal’s biggest rivals perhaps too soon? Arteta

“We have to adapt to that,” he said. “We will encounter situations like this all season long. It happened very early on since the second game. It is the situation we have. We have to deal with it.”

“The young kids have given us a lot of hope and a lot of good reasons to count on them. If necessary, we will certainly do that.”

So there are just enough options for Arteta to keep Ange Postecoglu until Sunday afternoon. That’s exactly what the Arsenal manager would want. One thing his Tottenham counterpart can be reasonably certain of, however, is that his opponent without Odegaard will not be the same team as they are with him. How could they be?

Scroll down for our predicted score in today’s North London derby and all other Premier League matches:

Premier League Predictions

Saturday September 14th
Southampton 1, Manchester United 3
Brighton 2, Ipswich 0
Crystal Palace 1, Leicester City 0
Fulham 1, Westham 1
Liverpool 2, Nottingham Forest 0
Manchester City 2, Brentford 1
Aston Villa 2, Everton 0
Bournemouth 1, Chelsea 1

Sunday September 15th
Tottenham 3, Arsenal 2
Wolves 0, Newcastle 0