If a comical own goal from 35 yards to level the scores in Arsenal’s pre-season friendly wasn’t enough to rile Mikel Arteta, then the Spaniard might well have been incandescent when hearing the news of injuries to two of his major stars.
Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead against Nurnberg after just seven minutes, but late in the game an under pressure Jorginho inadvertently knocked the ball back past his keeper and into the net.
Supporters attending the match might have wondered why captain, Martin Odegaard, wasn’t playing given that it’s believed he was named in the starting XI.
The Evening Standard noted that the Norwegian picked up a knock and was therefore withdrawn before a ball was kicked.
At this stage the exact extent of the injury isn’t known.
“[Odegaard] and Leo are struggling,” Arteta told reporters after the match (h/t Evening Standard).
“And we had other players with issues picked up in the week so we have to be cautious.
“It’s pre-season and some of them have only had two or three training sessions so we’ll take it step by step.”
With the start of the new Premier League season just four short weeks away, the last thing that Arteta and Arsenal need is for their stars to be picking up injuries and niggles in games which mean nothing apart from bringing in some decent crowds for local teams and handing players the opportunity to get match fit.
Once the problems have been diagnosed, Arteta will have a clearer picture in his head as to when he can utilise the services of the duo once more.