Mikel Arteta remains hopeful that both Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber can recover in time for Sunday’s League Cup final against Manchester City, with a final decision to come after Arsenal’s last training session.
Speaking to the media ahead of Arsenal’s cup final v City, Mikel Arteta was asked about the fitness of Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber and if there was any news about the pair. “”We have another training session [on Saturday], so the ones that are in contention hopefully can give us good news,” he said.
“We have another session, so let’s see if they can make it.”
Odegaard has been out since the start of March, missing seven games, and has also been left out of Norway’s squad for the upcoming international break, a mixed signal for supporters wondering whether he will feature at Wembley.
Timber has missed the last two matches with what is either an ankle problem or an adductor injury picked up against Everton, leaving Arsenal to monitor his progress closely before deciding on their side.
There has also been concern over Eberechi Eze, who scored the opening goal of Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday to send the Gunners into the quarter-finals of the Champions League before having to come off in the second half after hurting himself taking a shot.
There was understandable anxiety that the midfielder might be forced to miss the cup final this weekend, but he provided a positive update on his injury status after the game and did not seem to think the problem was anything serious.
Taken together, Arteta’s cautious optimism on Odegaard and Timber and Eze’s own reassurance offer Arsenal a realistic chance of going into Wembley with only Mikel Merino definitively ruled out at a moment when depth could prove decisive against City. In the league, Arsenal have more goals and assists from the bench this season than any other side (11+10) while City sit comfortably at the bottom of that table (1+1).
Before Arteta met with the press, Pep Guardiola had already confirmed that James Trafford would start in goal for City but when asked if Kepa would do the same for Arsenal, Arteta replied simply, “We will see how everybody is [after training on Saturday], and then we’ll make the decision.”
You can read more about City’s injury and availability problems ahead of the cup final here.