Arsenal handed major Thomas Partey AFCON boost

Arsenal and in the midst of a crisis in midfield as they prepare to take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with just the solitary midfielder to choose from.

Albert Sambi Lokonga is the only senior midfielder for Mikel Arteta, whose lack of options prompted their request for postponement in the North London Derby to be accepted by the Premier League.

Preparing for Thursday’s game, without transfer target Arthur walking through the Emirates doors in time, leaves the manager with some interesting selections ahead.

Benjamin White could come into midfield to partner Sambi, as could Calum Chambers who has featured in the position previously, albeit not for Arsenal. At least not for any meaningful length of time, anyway.

https://twitter.com/CAF_Online/status/1483543277320212483

Arsenal handed major Thomas Partey AFCON boost as Ghana are eliminated from the competition after 3-2 defeat to Comoros in final group stage match

Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard will be back for the midweek clash, as per reports, although beyond the Carabao Cup tie there will be further issues in midfield with Granit Xhaka’s red card in the first leg ruling him out of two matches.

The second of those is set to be against Burnley on Sunday, and while Xhaka may not be around, there is now a very decent chance that Thomas Partey will.

Indeed, it was was heartbreak for Ghana on Tuesday night as they fell to a shock 3-2 defeat to Comoros, a nation of less than 900,000 people, which saw them crash of the Africa Cup of Nations by finishing bottom of their group.

El Fardou Mohamed Ben Nabouhane put Comoros in front, with the task at hand growing even tougher for the Black Stars when Andre Ayew was shown a straight red card on 25 minutes after VAR review. In the 61st minute Comoros made their man advantage count when Ahmed Mogni fired in a fine second goal.

It looked like the most unlikely of comebacks would come for Ghana as they rallied back to level the match at 2-2, including a second goal courtesy of a Partey assist. However, Mogni put the game beyond doubt with five minutes left to play, consigning Milovan Rajevac’s side to an exit at the first hurdle.

Heartbreak for Partey, but not-so-secret delight for Arsenal. It is devastating to see his AFCON dream ended so soon, but there is no shying away from how beneficial this is to the Gunners moving forward. While it’s not certain that the midfielder will be involved on Sunday, there is every chance he will given the length of time between the matches.

We’re deeply sorry Partey, and Ghana. But we’re not going to pretend how helpful this is as it also prevents rash midfield additions this window.