Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has not travelled with the squad ahead of tonight's top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City.
That's according to rumours, with social media going into meltdown over the idea of the Ghanaian not featuring. Partey was taken off at half-time against City in the FA Cup fourth-round tie, which the Gunners subsequently lost, in part down to their lack of midfield dominance without their key man.
In fact, Partey has either missed or partially missed every game that Arsenal have lost in all competitions this season. Twitter account 'Team news and ticks' is claiming that the Ghanaian hasn't travelled for this game – but these rumours should be taken with a pinch of salt at this stage.
Partey actually trained with the Arsenal side yesterday and the injury sustained against City in the cup didn't keep him out of either Premier League fixture against Everton or Brentford.
Erling Haaland is apparently a doubt on the opposite side – so it is perhaps a case of mind games from Mikel Arteta.
Regardless, Arsenal are in a much stronger position to compete against City without Partey, having signed Jorginho in January. The Italian international made his debut in the defeat at Goodison Park but is the best natural fit to play as a lone No.6.
Arsenal also have Jakub Kiwior capable of playing in defensive midfield.
It is likely that City will line up similarly to how they played against Aston Villa. Guardiola opted for a three-man defence of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte behind a midfield of Rodri and Bernardo Silva. Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish then sat ahead of them, behind Haaland.
Such a line-up will likely face Arsenal's front three and two No.8s man-for-man.
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Interest in Declan Rice is ramping up – and the Gunners may have to break their transfer record for him – while Folarin Balogun's form on loan is posing interesting questions for Arteta.
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