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Despite an injury scare, Declan Rice is set to join the England squad for their upcoming matches. However, Arsenal has been dealt a blow with captain Martin Odegaard's injury.
Rice was substituted toward the end of the 2-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday due to a back injury. Despite concerns from manager Mikel Arteta about his fitness, Rice is expected to report to St George's Park on Monday for England's friendly against Wales and subsequent qualifier in Latvia.
Harry Kane has also confirmed his fitness after experiencing a foot problem following his goal in Bayern Munich's 3-0 triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
However, there's less positive news regarding Arsenal's star player Odegaard, who has pulled out of Norway's squad for their fixtures against Israel and New Zealand.
Odegaard sustained damage to ligaments in his left knee and Arsenal are currently awaiting scan results. The Norwegian midfielder was seen leaving the pitch with a brace on his knee.
In a statement, Arsenal said: "Martin Odegaard has been withdrawn from the Norway national team for their upcoming matches against Israel and New Zealand after sustaining a medial collateral ligament injury to his left knee during the first half in Saturday's win over West Ham United.
"Martin will continue to be assessed and treated by our medical team at Sobha Realty Training Centre during the international window, with the aim of a return to action as soon as possible."
The development represents a significant setback for Arsenal following Odegaard's outstanding display that helped secure a 2-0 victory against Olympiacos in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Norwegian midfielder had recently recovered from a shoulder problem, but Arteta delivered a pessimistic update after Saturday's match.
"With Martin it was a clash, knee to knee. It's not looking very positive at the moment," he told Sky Sports. "Immediately he was uncomfortable. I just spoke to him, he's not positive about it, he's got a brace on, we'll have to wait and see from the doctors."
When questioned about Rice, who was substituted after netting the opener against West Ham, Arteta continued, "He had pain in his back and he could not carry on, which is something very unusual for Declan, so we'll have to assess him and see how he is."
The Gunners face their next challenge when they travel across the capital to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Oct. 18.
Odegaard's injury dampened what had been an excellent weekend for Arsenal, who currently lead the Premier League standings, sitting one point clear of Liverpool, who suffered a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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