Arsenal handed huge injury boost for Norwich

Arsenal are in need of some good fortune for the upcoming Premier League matches as they seek to overturn a torrid run of form that has them sitting rock bottom of the table. Lucky for them, they’ve got some.

Mikel Arteta has not been able to call upon a number of his first team stars for the three matches his side have played thus far, with absentees coming either in the form of injuries or due to COVID-19 protocols.

Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City have all ended in defeat without a goal scored and a standout void in all of those fixtures vacated by Thomas Partey was keenly felt.

The Ghanaian has been out with an ankle injury suffered following a clumsy tackle from Ruben Loftus-Cheek during pre-season, and while he returned to training in the week building up to matchday four, he was still a doubt.

Arsenal handed huge Thomas Partey injury boost for Norwich clash with Ben White and Gabriel also passed fit for crunch Premier League clash

However, in the most glorious news of the week, Arsenal confirmed on their official website that Partey is both fit and available for selection.

His verticality, centrality and defensive awareness will be welcome additions to an Arsenal side that have been lacking in all three.

He is also joined by key defensive duo Ben White and Gabriel, who were missing through COVID-19 and a knee injury respectively, with both having been training together during the recent international break.

There is also news in forward positions as Eddie Nketiah has recovered from an ankle issue of his own to be in line for a place in the squad, even though he is arguably fourth choice at centre-forward with Folarin Balogun being promoted to the senior team over the summer.

Mohamed Elneny will play no part in the fixture after it was confirmed a hamstring strain is set to rule him out for a number of weeks. He could return to training in around 2-3 weeks.

That means a central midfield partnership of Partey and Albert Sambi Lokonga, a duo fans have been yearning to see, are set to be starting against Norwich and at least the two or three fixtures to come after that.

Granit Xhaka remains suspended following his act of idiocy.

Some good news at last.