Mikel Arteta Explains Martin Odegaard Call With Arsenal Star On Bench For Brighton Clash

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has raised eyebrows with his team selection for Saturday night’s fixture away at Brighton with Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli both on the bench

Martin Odegaard is on the bench for Arsenal’s match with Brighton (Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has explained that Martin Odegaard is only on the bench for Arsenal’s trip to Brighton as the midfielder is struggling with illness.

The influential Gunners captain was the most notable absentee from Saturday evening’s starting XI at Brighton, with both he on and Gabriel Martinelli named on the bench. Kai Havertz is also not in the squad at all.

But it quickly emerged via social media that Arteta had revealed to broadcasters that Odegaard’s omission from the starting line-up was because he is ill.

Havertz was among the Arsenal players who were hit with an illness bug ahead of their fixture with Brentford on New Year’s Day.

Speaking ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Brighton, Arteta said he was hopeful that Havertz would be available before speaking about the illness that had gone through the squad.

The Spaniard explained: “Hopefully he will recover very quickly. With Kai it was obvious [that he could not play against Brentford]. He wasn’t feeling well at all and he had very clear symptoms. So stay away from it, put him in a car, and go back to London.

“These things happen. In this period, there are always things – throat, infections, viruses. So I try to delay the lineup as well, as far as possible, because you can get up in the morning and you can have a surprise unfortunately.”

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