Arsenal are sweating over the fitness of Thomas Partey after the midfielder was forced off with a thigh injury during Sunday night’s defeat to Aston Villa.
The Ghana international was recalled to start alongside Mohamed Elneny in the middle of the park against the Villains yesterday after being rested for Arsenal’s Europa League group stage win over Molde last week.
However, Partey picked up a thigh problem early in the game and although he was able to solider on until half-time, the 27-year-old had to be replaced at the break with Dani Ceballos coming on for the second period.
Arsenal certainly missed Partey’s presence in midfield as they lacked any sort of control as the North Londoners crashed to a humiliating 3-0 defeat thanks to an own goal from Bukayo Saka and a double from Ollie Watkins.
Speaking after the defeat, Mikel Arteta provided an initial update on Partey’s condition and said the former Atletico Madrid star will undergo a scan on Monday to determine the full extent of the problem.
Arteta told Arsenal.com:
“We don’t know [the extent] of it. We have to scan him tomorrow or the day after and see what he felt straight away. Let’s wait and see what the magnitude of the injury is.
“I don’t know [if he will go away with Ghana now]. As I said, the doctor will have to have a look at him and probably scan him. Then we will decide what to do with him.”
We’ll have to wait for further news to see how serious the issue is but it seems highly unlikely Partey will link-up with Ghana for their African Cup of Nations qualifying double-header against Sudan during the international break.
Arsenal will be praying the injury isn’t too serious as Partey has settled well following his arrival from Madrid in the summer and is already an important part of Arteta’s starting eleven.
The Gunners will be desperate for Partey to be available when they’ll look to get back to winning ways when they travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United after the international break is over.
