Mikel Arteta has offered an injury update on Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Leeds United this weekend.
The Gunners will be desperate to get back to winning ways against Leeds at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday following back-to-back defeats but Arteta will be without two of his most important players.
Partey has been ruled out after picking up a thigh injury during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last weekend. The 28-year-old was replaced by Willian in the 75th minute at Villa Park after going down clutching his leg and he’s now facing another spell on the sidelines.
It’s been a frustrating start to life in north London for the Ghanaian international as a number of injury issues have restricted him to just 10 starts in all competitions and Arteta says the midfielder has been left ‘devastated’ by his latest injury setback.
The club initially hoped it wasn’t anything too serious but scans showed the injury was worse than first thought. Arteta says Partey will be assessed over the coming days to see how long he’ll be out for but Football London says he’s expected to be out for around two weeks.
In a double blow for Arsenal, the club confirmed on Arsenal.com yesterday that Tierney has also been ruled out of the Leeds game as he’s struggling to overcome a niggling knee injury that’s kept him out of the last five games.
The Scottish international has been doing light training this week and is expected to increase his workload over the coming days to see how he reacts but the full-back is desperate to return as quickly as possible.
Arteta told Arsenal.com:
on how long Partey will be out for…
It is a difficult one, he felt something during the game and we didn’t think it was too bad but after the scan looked a little bit worse. He won’t be available to play against Leeds and we will see how it evolves in the next two days but it is a muscular issue.on how frustrating it is for him…
He was devastated, we were all devastated because we know the importance of Thomas and we haven’t had him since we signed him, we haven’t had him in three games consecutively. I think he has only played 90 minutes once since he has come back from injury, so it is a big blow for us but he is adapting to the league, he has been very unlucky as well and he is very frustrated because he is a very competitive guy who wants to feel important and be important for the team and at the moment the injuries are restricting a lot of game time for him.on Kieran Tierney…
We have to see how the knee reacts when he starts to get a bit more load. He hasn’t had much left but he is very positive at the moment, he is in good spirits and he is desperate to get back in the team and we will see in the next few days, the moment he starts to train with the team and se how he is feeling and how he reacts.on if Kieran Tierney was expected to be out for this long…
Well, we didn’t know. At the end of the day when you have pain and you are not comfortable and you are someone like Kieran who does everything 100mph you need to be in the right condition. When someone like him says it doesn’t feel right and that something is wrong you worry because you know how much he wants it as well. He’s in a much better place now, in the last few days he’s feeling better, he’s training, he’s positive, he’s willing to come back early and help the team and hopefully we can have him soon.
Hopefully Partey and Tierney can make swift recoveries as they are two of Arsenal’s most important players and Arteta will be desperate to have them available as the north Londoners head into a pivotal part of the season.
After Leeds this weekend, the Gunners face Benfica over two legs in the Europa League with Premier League games against Manchester City and Leicester City either side of those ties so the results of the next 4-5 games could define Arsenal’s campaign. It would be a huge blow if Partey and Tierney were unavailable for this crucial run of fixtures so Arteta will be praying the duo are back in action soon.
There is some positive news for Arsenal as Bernd Leno and David Luiz are back in contention to face Leeds after serving one-match bans and Arteta has no other fresh injury concerns to worry about.
