Thomas Partey OUT for Manchester City match

Thomas Partey will miss the Arsenal - Manchester City match, per David Ornstein and James McNicholas. The Ghanaian was pictured in training with the squad on Tuesday before the match, but apparently picked up a slight knock. The injury isn’t thought to be serious (we’ve heard that before), but it’s enough to keep him out of the critical match. It is also likely to keep Partey out at the weekend against Aston Villa.

This is why Arsenal bought Jorginho. With Mohamed Elneny out long-term with a knee injury (and frankly not able to do anywhere near enough of the things that Partey does to feature against top-tier opponents anyway), Arsenal needed an experienced central midfielder capable of progressing the ball up the pitch. Let’s hope that he has gotten up to speed in training since his shaky start in Arsenal colors as a substitute against Everton.

Partey missing out is a big blow for the Gunners. Arsenal win 63% of their Premier League matches when he starts and only 47% when he does not. Beyond the top-line wins and losses stat, we saw how much the team struggled down the stretch last year with him out. Arsenal don’t work as well or fluidly without him in the center of the park. He’s among the most important players in the squad, if not the most important.

Jorginho masterclass incoming, hopefully.