Arsenal injury updates: Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus & Ben White

Mikel Arteta is hopeful that Martin Odegaard and Ben White will both be available for Saturday’s trip to Brentford, while Gabriel Jesus is a sure bet to feature.

Arsenal are no different to the rest. They, too, have had a mountain of injuries to deal with at the start of the 2023/24 season.

As a result, Arteta has struggled to field what many would regard as his strongest XI, although the Gunners have so far dealt well with key absences. They headed into the November break just a point adrift of league leaders Manchester City and Arteta will now oversee the returns of a couple of key players this weekend.

Arsenal injury updates: Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus & Ben White

Here are the injury updates provided by the boss ahead of the Brentford game.

Martin Odegaard

Odegaard has been dealing with a hip injury at the start of the campaign, but he missed the last couple of games before the international break with a concussion. However, the concussion window has now passed and the captain returned to training in the week.

Arteta expects his chief creator to be available this weekend: “Hopefully yes. We have another session today but he has been progressing well and hopefully, he will be available.”

Ben White

White had endured a mini-slump in form before he was left out of the matchday squad for the 3-1 win over Burnley. Arteta said the defender “didn’t look right” in the build-up to the contest, although he never disclosed what was actually wrong with the Englishman.

Nevertheless, White’s issue isn’t expected to keep him out of action on Saturday. Should he train on Friday, he’ll be ready to go.

“Again, if he is available today he will be eligible to play. But it’s a question mark to be resolved in the next few hours,” Arteta said.

Gabriel Jesus

The club would much rather have Jesus remain in London Colney over the break, but Brazil’s lack of available options up top forced them to call the Arsenal striker up.

Jesus had been out of action for a month with a hamstring injury, but he nonetheless played the entirety of Brazil’s defeat to Argentina on Tuesday night.

As a result, the Brazilian is “available” this weekend, but Leandro Trossard’s form and Jesus’ long flight home means he might not start at the Gtech.