Arsenal given injury boost as star man spotted in training ahead of Carabao Cup clash against West Ham
Arsenal have been handed a massive boost with Martin Odegaard returning to training ahead of their Carabao Cup clash with West Ham United on Wednesday, November 1. The Gunners' captain was benched for their previous Premier League game against Sheffield United, and Mikel Arteta confirmed he was dealing with an injury.
Arsenal posted photos of their recent training session on their club website, and the Norwegian was spotted training with the main group.
After the win against Sheffield United, Arteta talked about Odegaard's absence from the starting line-up. He said:
"We went through all the minutes that everybody has been the last three weeks, and some of them they played an enormous amount of minutes. Martin has been as well carrying a little thing that wasn't very comfortable in the games. So we have players with enormous quality and we have to choose, and we believe that it was the right day to do so."
The Gunners will take on West Ham United in the Carabao Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday night. The clash at the London Stadium will determine which side progresses into the quarterfinal.
Mikel Arteta reveals Arsenal captain needed to be rested
Mikel Arteta spoke to the media ahead of the London derby in the Carabao Cup against West Ham United. The Arsenal manager claimed that they needed to rest their club captain and it was the perfect opportunity against Sheffield United.
The Spaniard added that they need to manage game-time for all players as they are playing almost every three days. He said:
"We rested him the other day and now it is about how long we rest him and how we manage now the minutes and the rhythm he needs to be at his best. We had the opportunity to do it, we didn't use him in the end so that was a good offload for him. It is not only that. There are a lot of things that you have to do, it is impossible to play with no niggles in football at this level when you have games every three days."
Martin Odegaard has scored three goals in nine Premier League matches this season and provided one assist. The Norwegian midfielder played just eight minutes in the previous Carabao Cup fixture after coming on as a late substitute against Brentford.