Arsenal’s Ødegaard, Madueke and Havertz in line for Spurs return – Arteta
Mikel Arteta has suggested that Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke could all return for Arsenal’s north London derby against Tottenham on November 23.
The trio have all suffered knee problems with Ødegaard out since October 4, Madueke since September 21 and Havertz since the opening weekend of the season.
The Gunners face three away games a week before the November international break, starting with a Premier League trip to Burnley on Saturday.
Gabriel Martinelli will miss the game at Burnley with a knock while William Saliba is being assessed with an unspecified problem.
Gabriel Jesus is also ramping up his rehabilitation after undergoing knee surgery in January and has asked for news of the quartet, Arteta said on Friday: “I would say weeks, and some of them very soon, I hope, if they continue to develop the way they are.
“Difficult to put together a game, you know, because we have the international break, which is a two-week break there. And after that I think we’ll get some back.
“I don’t know if it will be all of them, some of them, but then we’ll be pretty close.”
Asked if he hoped Madueke, Ødegaard and Havertz could be available to face Spurs, Arteta continued: “Yes, I’m excited because they are fantastic players. I see them working every day, how desperate they are to be in the team.
“The huge boost that the team and these players are going to have again, after so long, I’m so happy that I think it will be very soon.”
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Arsenal are top of the championship after eight consecutive victories in all competitions. They have conceded just three goals all season and are now the bookmakers’ favorites to win the league title for the first time since 2004.
However, Arteta has warned his team not to get distracted by title talk. “We need to focus on the journey and what we need to do each day, to determine the outcome,” he said.
“Of course we want to win it and the preparation is going in that direction. Great. Now we have set all the protocols, processes, ambitions, everything.
“Now you have to concentrate on what you have to do, otherwise you get distracted by the rest. I don’t want all that in and around the team.”
Appearing to reference Son Heung-Min’s failure as Spurs were beaten by Manchester City in May 2024 – a pivotal moment as City propelled Arsenal to the 2023-24 title – Arteta added: “In the end you learn that the margins at the end to achieve it or not are multiple.
“So it may be that an opposing player is one-on-one against the goalkeeper, he scores this goal, you are champion. The other goalkeeper saves it, you are not champion.
“It could be other injuries, it could be other decisions, it could be a mistake on my part, it could be so many factors that we can’t control the outcome or we can control it while we can do our best. That’s it.”