Thomas Partey
The Ghana international was forced off during the defeat against Aston Villa and faces a nervous wait to discover the extent of the problem
Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is set to have a scan on a suspected thigh injury suffered during Sunday’s defeat against Aston Villa, head coach Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
The Ghana international lasted just 45 minutes at Emirates Stadium before being forced off during the break and replaced by Dani Ceballos.
News of Partey’s injury capped a miserable evening for the Gunners, who slipped to a 3-0 defeat thanks to two goals from Ollie Watkins and an own goal from Buyako Saka.
When asked about the severity of Partey’s injury after the game, Arteta said: “I don’t know. 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.”
The Spaniard would not be drawn on whether Partey’s injury would be enough to see him withdraw from the Ghana squad for next week’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“We don’t know [whether he will withdraw],” he added. “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.”
Arteta was at a loss to explain his side’s performance, which came just a week after claiming an impressive 1-0 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
They hit the target just twice from 13 efforts at goal and their tally of nine goals from eight Premier League games is the fewest they have scored to start the season for 22 years.
“It is very tough to find the reasons,” added Arteta. “I cannot say I have seen a change or this week that we have trained a different way. I would be lying if I said that. But obviously there was something there today that [Villa] wanted much more than us, and they showed it.
“At the end of the day, if you are late in every decision you make, if you don’t win enough duels, if every second ball isn’t for us, you don’t show the quality with the ball, you cannot defend your box, and when you get chances you don’t even hit the target, it is a really complicated way to win football matches
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