Thomas Partey to miss crunch Chelsea & Man Utd games

Thomas Partey is set to miss Arsenal’s crunch games against Chelsea and Manchester United this month after scans confirmed damage to his right thigh.

The midfielder was forced off during the second half of Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night. Mikel Arteta suggested after the game that Partey had aggravated a recent thigh injury and the player was sent for scans to assess the issue further.

Arsenal have now released an update confirming that scan results show Partey has suffered damage to his right thigh muscle, meaning he’s facing a spell on the sidelines.

The Ghana international will continue to be assessed over the coming weeks and will be sent to see a specialist to determine the full extent of the injury.

The update on Arsenal.com confirmed:

Thomas has since received further assessments, and a subsequent scan has shown muscle damage to his right thigh.

We will continue to assess Thomas in the coming weeks, during which time he will also receive further specialist consultations.

Everyone will be working hard to get Thomas back on the pitch as soon as possible.

Arsenal didn’t give any indication as to exactly how long Partey will be out for, however, by saying he’ll be assessed ‘in the coming weeks’ suggests the 28-year-old will be out for at least three weeks.

The Athletic also claims that Partey is expected to be out of action for ‘a few weeks’ so he’s unlikely to play again this month, which will be a huge blow for Arsenal as they battle for the top four.

The Gunners face a pivotal few games as they look to bounce back from Monday’s disappointment at Palace. Brighton arrive at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday before Arsenal travel to St Mary’s to take on Southampton on the 16th.

Arteta then faces crunch games against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge [20th] and Manchester United at the Emirates [23rd] and Partey is set to miss those crucial matches due to his thigh injury.

Arsenal will hope to have the midfielder back in time for the trip to West Ham at the start of May but there are no guarantee when he’ll be back in contention.

The news comes after Kieran Tierney was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury so Arteta will pray these injuries to two key players don’t derail Arsenal’s hunt for fourth place.