Mikel Arteta has revealed that Thomas Partey could be set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury on the eve of Arsenal's trip to Sevilla.
The Gunners flew out to face the La Liga outfit on Tuesday night but Partey, 30, was a noticeable absentee from the matchday squad. When he was questioned about the Ghana international, Arteta explained that an injury sustained in training was the reason behind Partey's omission.
“Thomas picked up an injury in training yesterday,” Arteta told TNT Sports in the build-up to the match. “We don't know the extent of it. Unfortunately, he's a big miss for us.”
Although Partey has managed to establish himself as an influential player for Arsenal since joining the club in 2020, the midfielder has a fairly chequered injury history.
Partey has been recovering from a groin injury in recent weeks but played both matches for Ghana during the international break and was on the bench against Chelsea at the weekend. It remains to be seen, though, if Partey's latest issue is a recurrence of that injury.
Despite Partey's absence, Arsenal headed in at the break in Spain with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a goal from Gabriel Martinelli right on the stroke of half-time after the Brazilian forward was played in superbly by his compatriot, Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal headed to Spain off the back of a disappointing defeat to RC Lens, although they did win their opening Champions League group match in convincing fashion by annihilating PSV Eindhoven 4-0 at the Emirates back in September.
Ahead of the latest round of fixtures, Group B was finely poised with Lens a point ahead of Arsenal at the summit. And Arteta was under no illusions that Arsenal would have their work cut out to pick up a win on the road in Europe, particularly against an opponent of Sevilla's calibre.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: "The opponents are really good and to win away from home is always difficult, but to win away from home in Europe, you see a shift in all the top teams that they are not the same results. Margins become critical and the emotional state of the team in certain moments goes through difficult ones, so that’s absolutely key.