Is Martin Odegaard injured? Mikel Arteta offers fitness update after captain misses Arsenal's win over Sheffield United

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta suggested Martin Odegaard has been carrying a slight injury as he explained the captain's absence from the weekend's match.

Odegaard missed Arsenal win
Arteta explained his absence
Captain carrying 'a little thing'

WHAT HAPPENED?
Odegaard was not involved in Arsenal's 5-0 win against Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Getty Images
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The Norway international has been a permanent fixture in Arteta's starting XI this season, with only Ben White and William Saliba playing more minutes before the clash at the Emirates Stadium. His absence on Saturday raised concerns of an injury and Arteta has provided an update on his condition.
WHAT THEY SAID
"Obviously we went through all the minutes that everybody has played in the last three weeks and some of them they played an enormous amount of minutes," he said in a press conference. "Martin has been as well carrying a little thing and wasn’t very comfortable in the games. So we have players with enormous quality and we have to trust them, and we believed it was the right day to do so."