Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino's unexpected absences from the Gunners' squad to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
Both midfielders were noticeable omissions from the team sheet at Molineux, especially after Arteta did not mention any specific problems for the pair in his pre-game press conference.
Odegaard and Merino have both missed a good chunk of the season already through injury; the former was absent with a severe ankle sprain for a couple of months, while Merino's debut was delayed by a freak shoulder injury.
Speaking to the Premier League ahead of kickoff in the West Midlands, Arteta confirmed that Odegaard and Merino's absences were both enforced, although neither man appears to be carrying anything serious.
The Gunners captain fell ill on the morning of the game and was "nowhere near" in the right condition to feature, according to his manager, while Merino is on the sidelines due to a "knock".
"Martin was ill this morning and we had to send him back - he was nowhere near fit to play. Mikel as well, because he got a knock and couldn't make it yesterday for training," Arteta explained.
Whether the pair are fit to face Girona in the Champions League on Wednesday remains to be seen, but Odegaard at least will be expected to return for next Sunday's crunch Premier League clash with Manchester City.
Odegaard out but Arsenal receive double boost
© Imago
Owing to the absence of Odegaard, Arteta has promoted 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri to the starting lineup in his captain's place, and the teenager will seemingly occupy the number 10 role while Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard work in tandem up front.
While Odegaard and Merino have joined Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the sidelines, both William Saliba and Myles Lewis-Skelly have recovered from injuries.
The former was initially expected to spend around two weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring problem but has healed quicker than expected to join Gabriel Magalhaes in a familiar central pairing.
Meanwhile, Lewis-Skelly sat out the 3-0 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb after jarring his knee versus Aston Villa, but the Hale End graduate has been given the green light to line up at left-back.
Lewis-Skelly gets the nod over Riccardo Calafiori, who is one of four left-sided defenders on the Gunners bench alongside Jakub Kiwior, Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the latter of whom is being linked with moves to Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
Arteta has made five changes in total, but Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has stuck with the same lineup from Monday's 3-1 loss to Chelsea, meaning that Matheus Cunha will feature from the off against one of his reported admirers.
Ben Knapton
