Arsenal had to dispense with Martin Odegaard in the Europa League confrontation with Sporting Lisbon, and failed to achieve victory, tying 2-2.
The midfielder has been an ever-present with his club this season but missed the first leg of the Europa League due to illness, and he’s not the only gunner who wasn’t at his best ahead of Sunday’s clash with Fulham.
here Arsenal Full team news about the match.
While there are a number of fitness issues, Arsenal would not miss out on anyone by being suspended for their clash with London side Fulham.
They also don’t have any players close to picking one up for accumulating too many yellow cards, meaning only injuries and red cards can rule members of the squad out of the match against Crystal Palace next weekend.
And to make things even better for Mikel Arteta, Fulham will miss star midfielder Joao Balinha through suspension.
Odegaard isn’t the only Arsenal player to spot a fault last week as Kieran Tierney also fell victim to it, missing the midweek game against Sporting Lisbon as a result.
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Illness is not a major concern for the club at the moment either, with Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah currently having minor injuries and Gabriel Jesus not completely ruled out after the World Cup with a ligament injury.
Mohamed Elneny is the one player he definitely won’t be up against Fulham. The Premier League leaders have confirmed that the midfielder developed a knee problem during training in early January and will be out for an extended period of time.
Of all the doubts mentioned above, it is Odegaard who has been the most important for Arsenal this season, and the one they will most want to return to the squad.
He wasn’t too far from fit enough to play against Sporting CP, and traveled to Lisbon with the team before his condition deteriorated, but Arteta isn’t sure if the Norwegian will be available for the short trip to Craven Cottage.
“I hope so,” he said the day before the game when asked if the captain would return. “Martin was feeling better, then he got a little bit worse so we’ll see after training today.”
“We’ll know more this afternoon, we haven’t trained yet. We have a few players in contention. This afternoon we hope to have a clear picture of who is available and who is not.”
In this edition of The Chronicles of a Gooner, part of the 90 Minutes Podcast Network, Harry Simo Reaction to Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.
If you don’t see this embed, click here To listen to the podcast!
