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Arsenal's captain Martin Odegaard was forced to leave the pitch during a match against Nottingham Forest due to what seemed to be a recurrence of his shoulder injury. The Norwegian midfielder appeared to injure his shoulder when Jurrien Timber's tackle on Morgan Gibbs-White inadvertently caused him to fall.
Odegaard had been making his first start for Arsenal since August 23, when he injured his shoulder in the first half of Arsenal's 5-0 victory over Leeds at home. Despite their title hopes being hit with a 1-0 loss at Liverpool the following week, the Gunners' skipper managed to play for 20 minutes.
Following this, Odegaard played for 45 minutes in Norway's 1-0 friendly win over Finland before playing the entire match against Moldova. In the latter game, the 26-year-old shone as Norway thrashed their opponents 11-1, with Odegaard scoring one goal and assisting two others.
Mikel Arteta did not hesitate to start Odegaard against Forest in Saturday's early kick-off. However, the former Real Madrid prodigy only lasted 18 minutes and is now a serious doubt for their crucial matches against Athletic Bilbao and Manchester City next week.
Timber and Gibbs-White both slid in for the ball, which Odegaard was also attempting to win. Although Timber emerged with the ball, Odegaard went flying and landed awkwardly on his right shoulder, immediately crying out in pain.
Following treatment, Odegaard battled on for 10 minutes before being forced to withdraw from the action.
Ethan Nwaneri was introduced as his replacement, charged with breaking down Forest's resolute defensive structure under newly-appointed manager Ange Postecoglou.
However, it was a different midfielder who found the breakthrough.
Martin Zubimendi demonstrated precisely why Arsenal invested big money in his services, as he delivered a devastating volley from the penalty area's edge that rocketed past Matz Sels with the aid of a minor deflection.
Immediately following the strike, Forest were compelled to make their own substitution.
Murillo, who had sustained an injury in the clash that resulted in the corner, was withdrawn for deadline-day acquisition Nicolo Savona.
Prior to kick-off, Arteta delivered the initial concerning injury update for Arsenal.
Gunners defender William Saliba was excluded from the matchday squad, continuing to experience discomfort from twisting his ankle during the warm-up against Liverpool.
After withdrawing from the France squad, the Saliba was anticipated to be sidelined for several weeks. Yet there was astonishment when Arteta confirmed that the French centre-half had resumed training this week.
"He trained yesterday, but at the end of the session he wasn't fully ready to start the game," the Arsenal boss told TNT Sports.
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