Martin Odegaard picks up slight knock ahead of Arsenal vs Nurnberg

Arsenal have continued their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Nurnberg this evening.

However, things did not go as planned as captain Martin Odegaard had to be withdrawn from the starting XI.

As shared by football.london, the Norwegian midfielder picked up a knock in the warm-up and Arsenal are taking no risks.

He was replaced with Fabio Vieira, who has since returned to full fitness having pulled out of the under-21 European Championship due to a knock.

The Gunners quickly took a precautionary measure by not risking Odegaard and will hope the knock is not serious.

Arsenal travel to North America for their pre-season tour of the United States on Sunday and will need their skipper available for the games.

They kicked off pre-season preparations with a 1-1 draw against Watford behind closed-doors last week and will take on MLS All-Stars next on July 20.

The Gunners will then face Manchester United, Barcelona and AS Monaco before returning to England for the new campaign.

An injury to William Saliba towards the end of last season affected their Premier League chances, and the last thing they want heading into a new season is an injury to a key player.

Odegaard deservedly emerged as Arsenal Player of the Year last term after an impressive campaign, and taking him out of today’s line-up could go a long way.