Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday that Thomas Partey will play no part in Arsenal's Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners host Jurgen Klopp's side this weekend in a match of huge significance at the top of the Premier League table. A win puts Arsenal firmly back in title contention, a defeat leaves them potentially out of the race for top spot.
One blow for Arteta's men ahead of this crunch clash is the news Partey has been ruled out by Arteta, having been in contention to make his long-awaited comeback.
Discussing the condition of the Ghanian midfielder, Arteta told reporters: "With Thomas, unfortunately, we had a little setback a few days ago, so he’s not going to be available to be in the squad. Whether that’s a matter of days or weeks, we’ll see but he had a little thing. I’m not a doctor but I’ll try to [explain]! He felt something again in a very similar area and he wasn’t able to train the last few days.
"It’s a big concern because he’s such an important player for us and he was getting some momentum at the start of the season and then we lost him for a while. Now it’s been a long time without him and he gives us something very different that no other player can give us in the squad. He’s been a real miss."
There was more positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, however, who was a doubt for this game after aggravating his knee injury in the midweek win at Nottingham Forest. Arteta has indicated the Brazilian is available to feature, having stated: "Gabi obviously played and trained with us the whole week."
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Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber remain long-term absentees, the latter not expected to be back in action until close to the end of the campaign. Vieira could make his return this month, but will not be ready to take on Liverpool.
Discussing the condition of the Portuguese at the start of January, Arteta said: "He's doing well again, but it was a surgery that required two different things to get results. Obviously, he is still a bit far from where we want him, but he needs to keep working, and hopefully, in the next few weeks, we can have him [available]."
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