Major Arsenal blow as £45m star will not feature v West Brom – report
Arsenal will be without summer signing Thomas Partey for Saturday night’s game against West Brom.
According to football.london, the player has not travelled to the Midlands with the rest of the Arsenal squad for the game at the Hawthorns.
Ahead of the game, Partey had returned to full training, sparking suggestions that he could make the game against West Brom.
However, that has not been the case for the player who has made just four league starts since arriving in the summer from Atletico Madrid in a £45million deal.
Doesn’t make things any easier for Albion
In Partey’s absence, Arsenal have been lining up in a new-look 4-2-3-1 system and Granit Xhaka arrives at the Hawthorns as a man in form.
The Swiss midfielder has marked his return to the team with two back-to-back impressive performances for the Gunners.
He followed up his stunning free-kick against Chelsea with a solid display during Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Brighton last time out.
Boasting a 92 per cent pass success rate against Brighton, only goalscorer Buyako Saka was awarded a higher match rating by WhoScored.
In an Arsenal squad that is getting younger by the week, Xhaka is providing valuable leadership and quality in the middle of the park.
The 28-year-old is likely to be at the heart of Arsenal midfield once again against West Brom and he will be one of the key men the Baggies need to stop if they want to get something from the match.
In other West Brom news, Mark Lawrenson has predicted the result of West Brom’s clash with Arsenal
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