Mikel Arteta confirms Thomas Partey blow ahead of Southampton vs Arsenal & explains why Lacazette has not been seen training
Mikel Arteta spoke to the press on Friday afternoon ahead of Arsenal’s next outing.
Arsenal will face off with Southampton at St Mary’s in one of several 3 pm ties taking place on Saturday.
Arteta discussed a number of topics in his presser, including team news. Kieran Tierney has been ruled out for the season, whilst Thomas Partey also suffered a long-term injury recently.
And whilst it had not been confirmed that Partey will miss the rest of 2021/22, comments from Arteta on Friday suggest this may be the case: “The news is not looking very positive [for] his availability this season but we will have to wait and see. At the moment we are not very optimistic about it.”
Arteta on Partey’s injury: “The news is not looking very positive [for] his availability this season but we will have to wait and see. At the moment we are not very optimistic about it.”
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) April 15, 2022
Arteta also explained why Lacazette had not been seen in training recently: “There are private reasons, I have no other team news other than the guys [who are known about].”
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Southampton vs Arsenal
The match is a must-win for Arsenal if they are to have any hope of securing a top-four berth this season.
Southampton are 14th in the league with 36 points from 31 games, meaning they are basically safe from relegation and have little left to play for this term.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are 5th in the Premier League, three points off Tottenham with a game in hand.
This means that Arsenal can draw level on points with Spurs if they win said game in hand, but will remain 5th due to their inferior goal difference.
As a result, Arsenal need to get back to winning ways this weekend and then hope they can get one over on Antonio Conte’s side when they meet at the end of the campaign.
