Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey could be back for the Premier League leaders at Leicester City on Saturday but Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus is still recovering from his long-term injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Partey missed Arsenal’s 3-1 home defeat by Manchester City and 4-2 comeback victory at Aston Villa last week due to a lower back injury, while Jesus has been out of action since suffering a knee problem playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar.
“Thomas has not trained much but looks like he could be available,” Arteta told reporters on Friday on the eve of the visit to 14th-placed Leicester.
“He is a really important player for us who we missed in the last few games but hopefully he can be available.
“(Jesus) is progressing well. He is doing more and more on the field. The knee is not reacting so it’s really positive. We want him back quickly but respect the timeline from the doctors. He is usually pushing the boundaries.”
Arsenal lead the table with 54 points, two above second-placed City who have played a game more. Manchester United sit third with 49, while Tottenham Hotspur are fourth on 42.
But Arteta believes the championship is not a twohorse race.
“I think there are more teams involved and every day is going to be a race — a race to convince those players how to train better, to play better,” he said.
“Against Leicester, we are going to have to be really good to beat them, especially with the way they have been playing the last few weeks.”
Leicester lost 3-0 at in-form Manchester United last time out but they thrashed visitors Tottenham 4-1 and won 4-2 at Aston Villa in the two games before that.
Pep backs Haaland
Erling Haaland is blameless for the fact that he has struggled to impose himself in Manchester City’s recent matches, coach Pep Guardiola said on Friday, insisting the Norwegian’s teammates must find him more often.
Haaland has scored 32 goals in all competitions in a remarkable debut season in England, but has netted just once in his last six matches.
The 22-year-old was particularly ineffective against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek, mustering one shot at goal while having just 22 touches.
“It’s our fault,” Guardiola told a news conference on Friday looking ahead to the trip to Bournemouth.
“Erling has been good all season. It’s not metrics, when I finish the game one second later I know if he was involved or not and who should be involved more or not. I don’t need numbers or metrics I know exactly.
“Yes of course, it depends on us. We need to look for him a little more. Striker is the most difficult position, one man has two defenders (around him) and with Erling it’s more.
“It’s fine (if he’s frustrated), I’m frustrated too. Happiness is overestimated!”
