There was a worrying omission in Arsenal training this week.
The Gunners released their latest round of training-ground images on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s North London derby.
And unfortunately for Arsenal, there was no sight of Thomas Partey.
The Ghana midfielder left international duty early last week to return to London Colney, after pulling out of the first XI that lost to Brazil in a friendly.
But the £45 million former Atletico Madrid powerhouse is still expected to face Tottenham.
That is according to Charles Watts, who exclusively covers Arsenal for Goal.com.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Watts revealed that despite being absent from training, the plan remains the same and that is for Partey to face Antonio Conte’s side this weekend.
He said: “He felt something and didn’t want to risk it. I noticed he wasn’t in the pictures for training yesterday but as far as I’m aware, the expectation is that he will join in training either today or later this week.
“The good news for Arsenal is that the expectation is that Thomas Partey will be available to play against Spurs. There is an expectation he will be fit. So that is very much good news.”
Arsenal team news v Tottenham
If this is true then, well, it’s truly massive.
Partey, along with Granit Xhaka, has been absolutely brilliant in Arsenal’s midfield this season and if Mikel Arteta wants to win the derby then that prospect is a lot more realistic if the big man is available.
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