The 2024-2025 season is increasingly slipping out of Arsenal's control. After dropping the title in the final stages last year, the Gunners are dreaming of challenging, and even beating, Man City to the title this year. But constant injuries are wreaking havoc on the North London club.
Previously, coach Mikel Arteta had to face the absence of key players in key matches many times. A number of injuries occurred during the international break in November, which only added to the problems that the Spanish coach had to deal with.
Leandro Trossard becomes the latest player to suffer an injury – but the nightmare began in September, when Martin Odeegard left the pitch in tears after a match with Norway.
The Gunners captain suffered an ankle injury against Austria in early September, missing several key games before returning early this month.
Arteta then had to watch one of his most influential players, Bukayo Saka, leave the pitch injured during an England match at the end of October.
Although the injury is not as serious as Odeegard's, Saka was also absent from the match against Bournemouth - which witnessed Arsenal's first defeat of the season.
Saka has since returned, but both he and Declan Rice have withdrawn from the Three Lions squad due to injury concerns. It remains unclear whether either will be fit to face Nottingham Forest this weekend.
And Trossard is now also a doubt for the starting line-up against Nottingham Forest.
Trossard could join defenders Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Riccardo Calafiori and Kieran Tierney on the bench for what could be a pivotal game in the title race heading into the first half of the season. The Gunners are flying high in the table, level on 19 points with the Gunners.
Coach Mikel Arteta will at least be comforted by the fact that Odeegard has withdrawn from the international break having only just returned from injury. Explaining the decision, the 25-year-old midfielder said: “I’ve just had a game at the weekend, it’s all been a bit sudden compared to the last nine weeks.”
“In the process of rehabilitation, you cannot go from being injured to suddenly being completely fit. Together with the national team medical team, we looked at it and agreed that I should return to the club to fully recover.”
“We had a good and positive discussion. I have been talking to Stale, the Norwegian coach, since my injury, and more often in recent weeks. It is not about Arsenal or the coach. It is about my injury,” he said.
