Mikel Arteta gives fresh Martin Odegaard injury update as four-word admission made

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the fitness of Martin Odegaard following The Norwegian has not featured for the Gunners since August after injuring his ankle while playing for Norway during the September international break.

He has missed the last 10 matches across all competitions, including huge Premier League matches against Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool on Sunday. There was hope that Odegaard could return for the end of October, but the midfielder is still not back and might be out for some time yet.

After the game, Arteta admitted that Odegaard is "a bit far away" from returning to action. He didn't put a timescale on when the captain could be back, but it doesn't look like it will be soon.

The Gunners face four matches before the November international break, starting with a trip to Preston on Wednesday. They then have three more away games, with a trip to Inter Milan either side of Premier League clashes against Newcastle and Chelsea.

Speaking in his matchday programme notes, Odegaard said ahead of the game against Liverpool. He said: "I've been out for a few weeks now, and have been working hard to get back as soon as possible.

"As I said in my notes on Tuesday, I feel like it's close now, but although I haven't been involved in the games lately, I feel I've still been able to use that time pretty well too. To be honest my days haven't been much different to before. I am still at the training ground every day, and they are long days as well.

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"I'm usually pretty tired afterwards because I've been doing a lot of work with the great medical and fitness team we have, and I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym as well.

"I've wanted to stay involved with what's happening too, so I've been going to the preparation meetings and have been closely involved. But obviously matchdays have been different, there’s been less traveling so I've been able to spend more time at home, getting important rest periods, which has been good."

As for the game itself, Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Bukayo Saka gave the Gunners the lead before Virgil van Dijk equalised for the Reds shortly after. Arteta's side went back in front through Mikel Merino, but were pegged back late on through Mohamed Salah's fine finish.