Thomas Partey to undergo further assessment ahead of Arsenal trip to Villa

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey will undergo further assessment before the Gunners travel to Aston Villa for this Saturday’s Premier League game.

This is according to LondonWorld‘s Chris Wheatley, who provided an update on a number of Arsenal players ahead of the weekend match.

On Wednesday, ahead of the Gunners’ meeting with Manchester City, rumours emerged claiming Partey was unavailable.

Just a few hours ahead of the game, Goal.com’s Charles Watts and several national outlets corroborated the initial rumours.

Partey missed out on the match due to a muscular injury he picked up in the final training session.

Although Jorginho impressed in the 29-year-old’s absence, Arsenal went on to lose 3-1 to Pep Guardiola’s side.

The Gunners now face a quick turnaround as they take on Unai Emery’s Villans in Saturday’s 12:30pm GMT kickoff.

According to Wheatley, the £200,000-a-week star remains doubtful for the game.

‘LondonWorld understands that he will undergo further assessment before the squad travel to Birmingham,’ he added.

‘We have to assess Tommy’

Mikel Arteta told Amazon Prime – via talkSPORT – ahead of kickoff: “It’s what happens in football. Players pick up injuries.

“Unfortunately Thomas felt something in his back muscle and he wasn’t available to play today.”

After the match, the press asked Arteta when he felt Partey could be back.

“We don’t know,” he replied. “It’s what happens, it’s part of football.

“I think Jorgi played a good game and we have to assess Tommy to see how bad it is.”

Arteta added that he didn’t find out about Partey’s injury until “very, very late” pre-match.

Not good news for Arsenal, but at least Jorginho looks like he’ll be a solid stand-in for Partey.

The Gunners must quickly regroup as they are now the ones snapping at the leaders’ heels.