Why Thomas Partey should start against Bournemouth as Arsenal cannot take the real PSG risk

It was . Mikel Arteta had to restructure the side for the match with Declan Rice and Mikel Merino dropping into deeper roles than they have been used to of late.

Partey is now available to return for the second leg and was spotted in training ahead of this weekend’s Premier League match with Bournemouth.

However, most might be thinking about rotating and resting players this weekend, considering the challenge that awaits on Wednesday. PSG are also playing on Saturday, and having won the league already, the clash with Strasbourg will enable them to rest many of their key stars.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

In regards to Partey, however, even with his known injury problems, Arteta might be minded to start to Ghanaian. Partey has probably played his best form for the club this season, and that has come about through his availability also being the best it has been this campaign.

Since his signature in 2020, Partey has been regularly absent from the team through injury. When he returns, Partey has been slow to return to his best form, even in small absences.

For instance, he was rested against Ipswich a couple of weeks ago, and when he returned to face Crystal Palace, it was one of his poorer performances of the campaign. After recovering from a long-term hamstring injury last season, it took more than a month before he was starting and playing well again.

With that in mind, it makes sense for Partey to start this match against Bournemouth. Rather than missing back-to-back games and then coming in for the trip to PSG, Partey needs significant minutes to best prepare himself and the team for the task ahead.