Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard not ruled out by Mikel Arteta for North London derby, while Micky van de Ven expected to return for Spurs

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has refused to rule Martin Odegaard out for Sunday’s North London derby, while Micky van de Ven is expected to return for Tottenham.

Arteta’s comments come as a surprise after Odegaard suffered an ankle injury for Norway during the international break, which the team doctor said would likely take three weeks to heal.

Sunday 15th September 1:00pm


Kick off 2:00pm

Arteta, who is already without Declan Rice (suspension) and Mikel Merino (injury), insists Odegaard could still be available for the trip Spurs.

He said: “We need some more tests. Let’s see what happens in the next day or so. [It will be Friday] afternoon probably. Let’s see the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back. Martin wants to be here every day but we have to wait and see.

“I leave that to the doctor. He’s willing and he wants to be present in every game. We need to make sure we know first how good he is or not.

“Players with 48 hours are always available. Let’s see what happens.”

Gabriel Jesus has missed Arsenal’s last two games with a groin injury, but is expected to return if he comes through the training sessions before Sunday’s game.

New-signing Riccardo Calafiori, meanwhile, will be assessed over the weekend before a decision is taken on his availability.

Spurs are set to have Van de Ven and Dominic Solanke fit for Sunday’s visit of Arsenal after they missed the defeat at Newcastle before the international break.

A late call will be made on Yves Bissouma after he sustained an issue while away with Mali on international duty.

“Micky’s good, he’s trained all the way through the international break and it was good for him to stay with us to build him back up so he’s ready to go,” Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou told the official club website.

“Dom’s improved as well and trained the back half of this week. We still have two days to go with those guys so hopefully they get through training OK and are available.”

On Bissouma, Postecoglou said: “He’s got a bit of an issue, but we’ll have a look at him over the next couple of days and see how it settles.”

Arsenal’s next seven games – will this define their season?

September 15: Tottenham (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

September 19: Atalanta (A), Champions League, kick-off 8pm

September 22: Man City (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 4.30pm

September 25: Bolton (H), Carabao Cup third round, live on Sky Sports+, kick-off 7.45pm

September 28: Leicester (H), Premier League, kick-off 3pm

October 1: Paris Saint-Germain (H), Champions League, kick-off 8pm

October 5: Southampton (H), Premier League, kick-off 3pm

Arsenal told to wear away kit at Tottenham

The Premier League has ruled that Arsenal must wear their away kit during this weekend’s trip to Tottenham, live on Sky Sports, due to a kit clash with Spurs.

The Gunners always wear their traditional home kit of red and white for both north London derby fixtures, but the Premier League and refereeing body PGMOL have ruled that Arsenal’s current home strip “features too much white, thus clashing with Tottenham’s traditional colours”.

Arsenal will therefore wear their black away shirt for this Sunday’s match, with the Premier League also ruling that Tottenham must wear their away shirt for January’s trip to the Emirates as well.