Stats Show Arsenal Are a Far Worse Side Without The Services of One Player

• Arsenal were forced to take on Manchester City without the services of Thomas Partey
• Stats now show the Gunners struggle in games without the Ghanaian in their midfield
• Mikel Arteta’s side have led the EPL table since November but have lost ground recently

Recent stats have shown Arsenal are a force to reckoned with when they have Thomas Partey in midfield, and are rather vulnerable without the Ghanaian.

This was evident once again on Wednesday, February 15, when the Gunners succumbed to a second Premier League defeat in three games, this time at the hands of Manchester City.

Goals from Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland were enough to ensure victory for Pep Guardiola’s side, who claimed top spot for the first time since November 2022.

It was yet another game in which the Gunners played without Partey, who is struggling with a muscle injury.

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Instead, Arteta had to deploy Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard and Jorginho to attempt to win the midfield battle against City’s talented line up which included Rodri, de Bruyne and Gundogan.

As reported by SportBible, Partey trained with the first team on Tuesday but Arteta left him out of the squad, presumably because he was not match ready.

"It's what happens in football. Unfortunately, Thomas felt something in his back muscle and he wasn't available to play today," Arteta explained to Amazon Prime.

Arsenal's performances without Partey

After the 3-1 defeat to City, a clear stat came to the surface - the Gunners, for all their title aspirations, were heavily reliant on Partey’s services.

Since August 2021, Arsenal have played 41 league games and enjoyed a 71 per cent success rate with the Ghanaian, according to PremierLeague.com.

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His involvement also means the Gunners have averaged 2.2 points per league game and in 18 games without the African, they have won only 50%.

Ederson survives after Nketiah foul

Sports Brief also reported on why Man City goalkeeper, Ederson avoided a red card despite a last-ditch challenge on Eddie Nketiah.

The Brazil international was booked in the 36 minutes of the tie for time-wasting as City looked to protect their 1-0 lead into the break.

Moments later, the City stopper brought down Nketiah in the box, with the Gunners ace already seen to be through on goal.