SETTABLOID

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is working hard to recover from an ankle injury, offering a potential boost for manager Mikel Arteta as the club faces a challenging fixture list according to Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel.

Odegaard has been sidelined since sustaining ligament damage while playing for Norway in September, but the 25-year-old is set to take a significant step forward in his rehabilitation by returning to light training on the pitch this week.

While Odegaard’s return would be timely, it’s uncertain when Arteta will consider him fit for competitive action. Should he play before the upcoming international break, which follows Arsenal’s match against Chelsea on November 10, Norway could call up the midfielder for their November fixtures against Slovenia and Kazakhstan.

Arsenal took a point from a pulsating clash with Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon filled with controversy and frustration. Decisions not going the Gunners’ way, poor goals to concede and late drama not edged in the Gunners’ favour.

It was the first time this season that the stadium felt alive again, as interest waned somewhat following a difficult run of games and dropped points to Brighton and Bournemouth. Even the atmosphere against PSG in the Champions League failed to impress.

Arsenal were denied the chance to score a late goal as Jakub Kiwior was deemed to have fouled Dominik Szoboszlai. It sparked frustration among supporters both inside the stadium and at home, but many in the Emirates Stadium missed the chance to see another potential late goal that Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were denied.

Sitting to the far left of the press box for the Sunday fixture, situated right next to the staircase out of the ground, hundreds of fans began streaming out of the stadium. Arsenal have scored plenty of late goals in recent seasons, even as recently as the game against Leicester – with two stoppage-time goals – and Southampton where Bukayo Saka scored in the 87th minute.

The atmosphere was certainly better, but again it is saddening to see so many supporters leave toward the end. It was felt as the intensity of noise dipped besides the angry remonstrations to some of the decisions made by the officials.

 Arsenal failed to get back to winning ways against Liverpool after leading twice in what was a pretty entertaining draw at the Emirates yesterday. We led twice in the first half thanks to goals from the returning Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino, however it wasn’t enough to see us claim all three points that was absolutely vital to keep pace with the top two.

However we can’t dwell too much on the negatives, especially considering we had a few positives in the game to look at, one of them being the performance of Mikel Merino in the middle of the park. Mind you he wasn’t the best player for us outright, but considering what he has been facing recently, he did a very good job. 

 The Spaniard has had a fairly difficult start to life in North London so far. Firstly in one of his first training sessions with the club he sustained a shoulder injury that kept him out for a few weeks, before coming back and receiving a little bit of criticism and doubt from the Arsenal faithful over his performances against Bournemouth and Shakhtar Donetsk recently.

Arsenal fans weren’t impressed at all with his  performance in those two games and some went as far as saying there isn’t any “special” about him. However his performance against Liverpool yesterday will surely win over some his critics. 

Treatment given to Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes suggests that he’s not set to miss a long period of time with injury – an expert injury expert has revealed. The defender was taken off in the second half against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon after going down holding the back of his knee.

Gabriel felt the full force of Darwin Nunez’s leg going into his own and went down immediately. Not only did he need medical help from physios, Arsenal’s club doctor was also sent out, indicating that it was a big worry.

After a brief return the pitch, Gabriel was on the floor again and had to be helped off by David Raya and backroom staff as he hobbled from play. That left Mikel Arteta with Thomas Partey at right-back – where he started the match – and Ben White partnering Jakub Kiwior in the centre.

Before long it was teenager Miles Lewis-Skelly on the left instead of Timber. He appeared to be suffering from cramp as an intense return to domestic football after three weeks out took its toll. Arsenal would concede just over 10 minutes later with the goal coming down the side of Lewis-Skelly, now tasked with stopping Mohamed Salah.

For Arteta it is a continuation of the troubles which have plagued their season to date. Riccardo Calafiori missed the game with a knee injury of his own picked up in midweek. It isn’t expected to be as serious as captain Martin Odegaard’s ankle problem keeping him side-lined, but may well rule him out for the trip to Newcastle which is on the horizon.

Arsenal dropped points for a second-straight Premier League game after a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners were without Martin Odegaard, William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori, but they came up with a credible performance.

Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber were both substituted with injuries. This contributed towards Liverpool scoring a late equaliser.

Despite the stalemate, there were a lot of positives to carry forward.

Saka continued his stellar form with his 11th goal contribution from as many outings while Mikel Merino bagged his maiden goal for Arsenal.

Declan Rice had a good outing and delivered two sumptuous crosses into the box. Merino could have easily scored a brace on another day.

However, we believe Thomas Partey was the Gunners’ best player on the pitch despite starting from a makeshift right-back position.

Before the start of the match, some Arsenal fans would have been concerned over the Ghanaian coming up against Liverpool’s Luis Diaz.

However, the 31-year-old silenced any critics with a splendid defensive showing. Partey won a stunning 13 duels with four successful tackles (80%).

Partey completed 87% of his passes with 76 touches. He lost possession on multiple occasions and made up with recoveries, interceptions and clearances.

Diaz had the better of Partey on one occasion. Other than that, the Colombian was hardly a threat. He was replaced by Cody Gakpo who faced the same fate.

The £17 million-rated star has been with Arsenal since the summer of 2020. He has fared well in several appearances, but has let down the team with his injuries.

Partey has managed to stay unscathed from the start of this season and he has become an undisputed starter under manager Mikel Arteta as things stand.

His current deal expires at the end of the campaign and this has probably brought the best out of him.

Arsenal are bound to evaluate Partey’s form and fitness over the coming months before deciding whether to consider a possible renewal beyond next summer.

Arsenal secured a valuable point against rivals Liverpool as Manchester City will surely be rejoicing at the sight of the draw in north London. The Gunners took the lead twice against Arne Slot’s side and had all sorts of challenges along the way.

Both Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber were able to start the match but certainly neither could finish it. Gabriel Magalhaes went off injured in the second half and the Gunners were of course already without Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Mikel Arteta will have plenty to be proud of, considering that many had put the Gunners as second-favourites for the match. 

Arsenal have simply not been themselves, and in part, neither has the crowd inside the Emirates Stadium. Yet as they took to the field and began their attempt at beating their Merseyside opponents, immediately there was a difference.

Certainly, Bukayo Saka was a huge part of this and his goal seemed to spark a belief in an already spritely Emirates Stadium audience. The progression, the threat, and the danger were all back and Arsenal looked like Arsenal again.

Hopefully, as both Saka and Timber regain their match fitness, they are able to impact games more with Newcastle, Inter Milan and Chelsea to come. Yet as mentioned, with Gabriel falling and suffering a knee problem, what more can go wrong?

Arsenal once more fell foul to the injury Gods as mid-game problems for Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber disrupted Mikel Arteta’s already skewed plans against Liverpool. Lining up with a backline featuring Thomas Partey at right-back, the Gunners were left to re-adjust some more.

Ben White has shifted to the centre at the start of the match due to William Saliba’s suspension-enforced absence, whilst Timber wasn’t offered a comfortable return from his own lay-off. The Dutchman went straight into the middle of the action, pitted against Mohamed Salah.

That didn’t seem to bother Arsenal early on as they penned Liverpool back and took an early lead through Bukakyo Saka. Playing his own first minutes for over two weeks, he started on the right as captain for Arsenal. Virgil van Dijk and Salah would level for the visitors when Arsenal had worked a lead, though, leaving the title race picture as it had been to start with.

Gabriel went down after a challenge from Darwin Nunez against Liverpool. The back of his left knee was hit and despite trying to play on, Arteta had to sub him off shortly after. The Brazilian was spotted with a large ice pack over his knee when sat on the bench.

Very proud of the team, especially with the situation we are going through at the moment – probably you cannot imagine. I think in the first half it was total domination, we were really good, really dominant, really efficient and the result probably should have been bigger.

Without conceding nothing basically we gave two goals away. That’s the really frustrating part, and that we couldn’t see the game out, especially looking at ourselves and two things that we didn’t do in certain aspects.

We had five injuries in the back line. We have to adapt to it and we will continue to adapt. It’s the situation that we have. Support them and praise the players because the courage again today was unbelievable and keep going.

And after all of that, and there was a lot of all of that, the gap remains the same. Seven points looked big, even for this early stage of the season, one would have been enormous. A draw leaves it at four, and Manchester City the real winners.

For Arsenal, this was a case of what might have been. Without William Saliba they were on the back foot immediately. Bukayo Saka’s return to the side didn’t take long to have been worth the wait, though. His goal was evidence of the best of Arsenal, the best of Saka.

Fighting this injury beast is becoming an unwinnable task. It’s costing them. First Gabriel Magalhaes – a huge blow – and then Jurrien Timber too. As the fixture list ramps up, could this be the thing that Arsenal turn to and point at as a game-changer? And not a good one?

Really, though, Arsenal haven’t been at their best yet this season. They lacked the quality to put Liverpool away in the first-half when things were in their favour. What Mikel Arteta’s side doesn’t lack is heart.

They can claw away at matches to stay in them. Here, Liverpool themselves didn’t do enough to win a game that unfolded in front of them. A draw that both sides will take but could have been more

Arsenal were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners got off to a flying start in the match as Bukayo Saka seized on Ben White’s ball over the top to finish clinically.

Arsenal were dominant in the match after that, but Liverpool were able to level when Virgil van Dijk nodded in Luis Diaz’s flick on from a corner. Right on the stroke of half time though it was Arsenal’s turn to score from a set piece. This time Mikel Merino was on hand to head home his first goal for the club after Declan Rice’s superb cross.

Liverpool grew back into it in the second half though, and Arsenal found their already threadbare back four decimated by injuries as Gabriel and Jurrien Timber were forced to come off.

Eventually Liverpool were able to take advantage when Mohamed Salah tapped home Darwin Nunez’s low cross after a ball over the top by Trent Alexander-Arnold.