Mikel Arteta is now expecting Thomas Partey to be out for ‘weeks’ due to an injury sustained during Arsenal training.
Arteta spoke to Football London after his Arsenal team defeated Manchester United 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners trailed to Marcus Rashford’s opener but replied swiftly through Martin Odegaard.
It took a while, but Arsenal eventually won, with Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus scoring late on to send the Emirates Stadium into raptures.
Arsenal fans are surely still buzzing when they wake up on Monday morning, but it’s not all good news.
Midfielder Thomas Partey missed Sunday’s game against United due to an injury sustained in the previous several days.
Partey’s injury was confirmed by the Ghana Football Association over the weekend, and he did not play against United.
On Sunday, Arteta was asked about the injuries and revealed that ‘it doesn’t seem good’ for Partey, who is anticipated to be sidelined ‘for weeks’.
“I’m not sure. Unfortunately, he was hurt during training. It does not appear to be a positive situation. “I believe he’ll be out for several weeks,” Arteta predicted.
The Kai Havertz experiment is expected to continue in the wake of Thomas Partey’s injury.
On Sunday, Arteta went back to his customary back four, with Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Oleksandr Zinchenko all starting.
Arsenal has used some unusual defensive lineups recently, notably Partey at right back.
Partey’s injury may have prompted the change, but if Arteta was going back to that, we might have seen Partey in holding midfield.
Declan Rice would have moved up and Kai Havertz would have been dropped to the bench as a result.
To be honest, it’s just not working for Havertz at Arsenal right now.
Fans were already on his case before he made a dreadful mistake and gave up control of Rashford’s goal on Sunday.
With Partey out, Rice is expected to continue in holding midfield, and Arteta will stick with Havertz in the expectation that he will find his form shortly.
