As per Ben Dinnery of Premier FPL Injuries, Thomas Partey’s season could already be over after he suffered an injury during Arsenal’s defeat against Crystal Palace on Monday.
The Gunners travelled to Selhurst Park looking for a win to continue their top-four push, but they were instead beaten 3-0 by the Eagles after goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha. The defeat was compounded by an injury to Ghana international Partey, with the 28-year-old being forced off the field of play with 15 minutes remaining.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of Premier FPL Injuries, Dinnery provided an update on Partey’s issue. He said: “He’s picked up a muscle problem. Now, Mikel Arteta referenced that in his post-match press conference, he said that it’s a problem that has been affecting Thomas Partey in the past. We’ve seen he’s had a number of muscular problems.
“This issue has likely been a culmination of all of those minutes playing for his national team in the recent AFCON championships, so there’s a little bit of fatigue in there. It looked as if it was thigh-related. And of course, we’re now in April, and if anything significant, that could potentially end his campaign early.”
TIF Thoughts on Partey’s injury…
Partey’s issue capped off a miserable night for Arteta and co, and as Dinnery explained, this is not the first time the midfielder has suffered from muscle problems. According to Transfermarkt, muscle complications have seen him miss seven games for Arsenal since his switch from Atletico Madrid, where he also had similar issues.
Arsenal have been less hit by injuries than their Premier League rivals – towards the end of February, Planet Football revealed only Burnley and Crystal Palace players had missed fewer games due to fitness problems. The absence of the £36m-valued Partey, though, will be a blow to Arteta, with the enforcer featuring in all but five league games this term.
Would Arsenal miss Partey?
Yes
No
News has also recently come in that Kieran Tierney will miss the rest of the season as he recovers from a knee issue. As it stands, Arsenal are fifth in the top-flight table, level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand. Arteta will be hoping he does not lose any other key players before the end of the campaign.