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Only 3 days following a “brilliant” showing against Olympiakos in the Champions League, things don't appear so promising again for Martin Odegaard.

The Arsenal captain entered the history books during the 2-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday when he had to be withdrawn after just 30 minutes, making him the very first player in Premier League history to be substituted in the first half in 3 straight starting appearances.

This extends a frustrating start few weeks of the campaign for the 26 year old Norwegian, who has additionally come off prematurely in wins against Leeds and Nottingham Forest.

On those occasions, it was because of an lingering shoulder issue. This time, after being included in an attacking team by manager Mikel Arteta, he was forced off after suffering “knee-to-knee” with West Ham attacker Crysencio Summerville.

“I recently spoke to him,” said Arteta after the game. “He's not hopeful about it. He's wearing a brace on. We'll need to wait and see from the doctors, but we haven't been very lucky with that either.

“We haven't been able to field him since the start of the campaign for various reasons. The shoulder twice and then this injury.

“We'll need to wait and see the severity of that injury, and we'll find answers, but obviously he's our skipper and is a player that offers a totally different aspect with the things that he can do, especially in attacking.

“Let's wait and with any luck it's not that serious.”

Odegaard hasn't had much luck so far with fitness issues this season...

How Odegaard Set an Unwanted Milestone

Arsenal 5-0 Leeds (23 August)

After playing 90 minutes in the first match of the campaign against Manchester United, Odegaard was taken off 38 minutes into their second match against Leeds after falling awkwardly on his shoulder.

Arteta said it was hard to tell how serious the injury was immediately after the final whistle and that he would be referred for a scan.

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest (13 September)

Odegaard was back in the team for the 1-0 loss at Liverpool eight days later, coming on for the last 20 minutes, and then began both of Norway's matches during the September international break.

He was back in the Gunners' lineup against Nottingham Forest on 13 September but was forced off again in the 18th minute, with Arteta later revealing the injury was a re-occurrence of his shoulder problem.

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham (4 October)

Odegaard missed Arsenal's next 3 games before coming back as a second-half substitute against Newcastle on 28 September and then completing the entire game against Olympiacos in the Champions League on Wednesday.

But only 30 minutes into Saturday's victory against West Ham he again was replaced, this time due to a knock to his knee.

The Significant Upside: Arsenal's New Strength in Depth

Odegaard featured in 45 games for Arsenal in every competition the previous campaign and is typically the first-choice player for Arteta.

It was fitness problems that derailed their push for the title in the previous season, with Odegaard himself enduring a period on the treatment table with an ankle problem.

But now things are different in the red half of London.

The Gunners spent around £250m in the recent transfer market, bringing in eight fresh players, and that squad depth has already played a significant part in their impressive beginning to the season.

Arteta was able to call on £60m Martin Zubimendi to take the place of Odegaard and it was his long pass to Eberechi Eze which initiated the attack from which Declan Rice scored the opening goal.

Rice also was substituted with a back injury - but Arteta was able to introduce Mikel Merino and academy graduate Ethan Nwaneri in a genuine show of depth.

The Arsenal manager has already stated that the “substitutes may be more important than the starting players in this campaign” - although he will hope that he won't have to keep using his squad because of injury issues.

“It's not ideal because we had very clear intentions with the line-up,” he said. “But the positive aspect is we can bring somebody else in and be a little bit altered but still very, very effective.”