Arsenal’s September international break is now underway, with Martin Odegaard and Christos Tzolis making immediate attacking contributions while Kai Havertz suffered an injury scare with Germany.
Bruno Guimaraes has also completed Brazil’s opening friendly against Australia, while Gabriel Magalhaes was given a valuable opportunity to manage his workload.
Here are the latest developments involving Mikel Arteta’s players.
Martin Odegaard Provides Two Assists for Norway
Martin Odegaard continued his outstanding start to the season by registering two assists as Norway beat Denmark 3-2 in their Nations League opener.
The Arsenal captain created Oscar Bobb’s opening goal after 14 minutes before supplying Erling Haaland for the decisive winner in the second half.
The official match record confirms Odegaard’s involvement in both goals.
It continues an excellent run of creative form for the 27-year-old, who has carried his strong Arsenal performances into international football.
Odegaard completed the match without any reported fitness issue, which will be the most important detail for Arsenal following the injury problems that disrupted much of last season.
Christos Tzolis Scores in Greece Comeback
Christos Tzolis also made an immediate impact for his country.
The Arsenal winger scored Greece’s equaliser during a 2-1 comeback victory away to Serbia in the UEFA Nations League.
Serbia had taken an early lead through Andrija Zivkovic before Tzolis levelled the match, with Anastasios Douvikas eventually scoring Greece’s stoppage-time winner.
Arsenal highlighted Tzolis’ goal in their official international round-up.
The goal is particularly encouraging given Tzolis is still waiting for his first competitive strike since joining Arsenal.
His early performances in north London have already shown his ability to create and progress the ball from the left, but finding the net for Greece provides another confidence boost during the break.
Kai Havertz Returns to Arsenal After Germany Injury
The biggest concern from the opening round of internationals involves Kai Havertz.
Havertz started Germany’s Nations League match against the Netherlands but was forced off after around half an hour with an apparent muscular problem.
The forward subsequently left the Germany camp and returned to Arsenal for assessment.
Read Arsenal is following that development separately in our latest Kai Havertz injury update.
There is not yet a confirmed return date.
Arsenal therefore face an anxious wait for the results of further medical checks before their Premier League campaign resumes against Leeds United.
Bruno Guimaraes Starts as Brazil Draw With Australia
Bruno Guimaraes started for Brazil as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Australia in Townsville on Friday.
The Guardian’s match report confirms Bruno was part of Brazil’s starting XI alongside the likes of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Endrick.
Brazil fell behind to a superb Nestory Irankunda free-kick before Bournemouth forward Rayan equalised with virtually the final action of the match.
Bruno was also involved in a first-half incident when an Estêvão goal was disallowed after VAR identified a foul by the Arsenal midfielder in the build-up.
Gabriel Magalhaes did not start the match.
That could prove useful for Arsenal given the centre-back arrived in camp with one of the heaviest workloads among Brazil’s Europe-based internationals.
Brazil face Australia again on Tuesday 29 September before travelling to India for their final fixture of the international period.
Arsenal International Results So Far
| Player | Nation | Latest Result | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Odegaard | Norway | Norway 3-2 Denmark | Two assists |
| Christos Tzolis | Greece | Serbia 1-2 Greece | One goal |
| Kai Havertz | Germany | Netherlands vs Germany | Forced off injured |
| Bruno Guimaraes | Brazil | Australia 1-1 Brazil | Started |
| Gabriel Magalhaes | Brazil | Australia 1-1 Brazil | Did not start |
Arsenal Players Still to Feature
Several more Arsenal players are due to play during the coming days.
England’s Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ezri Konsa remain with Thomas Tuchel’s squad, while Spain have David Raya, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino available.
Riccardo Calafiori is with Italy, Viktor Gyokeres is away with Sweden and Arsenal’s younger internationals Max Dowman and Marli Salmon are also in action at youth level.
This tracker will continue to be updated with appearances, minutes, goals, assists and any fitness developments throughout the international break.
