Arsenal vs Leicester City Preview: Will Thomas Partey be a regular in Arteta's XI? Versatile play makes strong case
Thomas Partey was a tad too late to join the party against Manchester City last week. As a result, Arsenal missed out on some exhilarating playmaking and ended their evening with a 1-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium. Mikel Arteta, the quick learner that he is, immediately involved their star signing in the starting XI and the results quickly showed as the side notched up a 2-1 win against Rapid Wien in their Europa League game on Thursday, October 22nd.
Partey's first appearance in the Premier League as a substitute baffled many. Arsenal was playing catch-up until the Ghana international player made the midfield his own despite the fact they lost to Pep Guardiola's men. He was in his elements against Wien. In a game where the Gunners couldn't really have any impact on the home side for almost 70 minutes, it was still Partey breaking down the plays even as his mates struggled. The passes were pure precision, the moves were calm but calculated at every instance.
At one point in the game, his interception when Wien forward Fountas was about to shoot was crucial, and that perhaps was all that the Gunners needed for some extra motivation. The other decisive factor was his ability to keep the momentum going with his short and long-range plays that ensured Arsenal had a majority of the ball possession (68%) and a shot accuracy of 85%. That yellow card didn't really matter to Partey as he went about his business.
Arteta was lavish in his praise post the game. "I think he held the midfield by himself in the second half when we were a little bit more open," he said. "He started to take more chances of attacking certain spaces with some players. I think he was fantastic and there is much more to come from him." And there certainly is, if he is allowed to start again in the XI. That he can bolster the defense is something we witnessed when he took on Wien all on his own.
With this, there's scope for Arteta to also use him a bit further forward. The gaffer has already spoken about the versatility and adaptability the midfielder brings to the squad and that means he could fit in the formations Arteta has in mind. One of his strengths is creating attacking opportunities from deep positions and maintain the ball. His passing and dribbling techniques to break the opponent's press along with a solid one vs one play makes him the perfect modern-day midfielder.
Arsenal is up against Leicester City next and while the latter are one position above the Gunners in the points table, they will be trying to decrypt Arteta and Partey. Despite the absence of star players, Leicester, known for their dogged determination will almost certainly be a handful, and Partey playing as many minutes as he can work to the home side's advantage. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back to goal-hitting, or so most hope will be the case, Arsenal will fancy a top-five finish by raking in those three points.
Kick-off is slated at 3:15 PM ET on Sunday, October 25, 2020. The match can be watched live on Peacock Premium.
