Arsenal have obvious Martin Odegaard replacement vs Tottenham in North London Derby
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been dealt yet another midfield blow ahead of the North London Derby against Tottenham. New signing Mikel Merino picked up an unfortunate training injury ahead of the draw against Brighton, with Declan Rice then shown a red card in that game.
As a result, both midfielders will be absent for the huge clash against the Gunners' main rivals with Merino injured and Rice suspended. September's international break has now handed Arteta another major set-back with captain Martin Odegaard hobbling off for Norway on Monday night.
The following day, Odegaard was pictured boarding an aeroplane on crutches and no shoe on his left foot. Based upon that, the chances of Odegaard leading Arsenal out in a few days' time appear to be slim, while his would-be absence presents a major selection dilemma.
Kai Havertz dropping back into midfield feels inevitable, but Arsenal manager Arteta will almost-certainly need to make another tweak. Jorginho is the most natural replacement, though either he or Thomas Partey would need to play further forward, despite both preferring to operate at the base of midfield.
Thankfully for Arteta, he also has somewhat of a wildcard option in Leandro Trossard. The Belgium international is extremely versatile and that has seen him deployed on the left flank, as a 'false nine' and also in midfield. Trossard started the season out of the starting XI but replaced Gabriel Martinelli for the draw against Brighton after scoring off their substitutes bench against Aston Villa.
The red card to Rice early in the second half saw him come off early in the Brighton game - against his former club - and remaining in the line up to face Spurs now looks likely.
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During his 18 months at Arsenal, Trossard has played four games in midfield, according to Transfermarkt, with some strong performances coming in that area against Southampton and Wolves.
Deploying Trossard and Havertz ahead of Partey could leave Arsenal open to being exploited, but Arteta does not have too many other alternatives. The Gunners can easily get at Tottenham's defensive vulnerabilities, and thus not selecting Jorginho and Partey in tandem is plausible if Arteta wants to go all-out for the win.