Thomas Partey has been excellent for Arsenal in the early weeks of this season and is a crucial piece of Mikel Arteta’s midfield jigsaw. This has been epitomised by the influence of the 29-year-old when he is included in the starting line-up.
Arsenal’s win percentage sees a major increase compared to when he is playing compared to when he is absent from kick-off. Since his arrival in 2020, he has been an automatic starter under Arteta.
This is why it is a major boost that Partey is in contention to start against Tottenham in the North London Derby on Saturday, and could prove to be the key factor in the outcome of the match.
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football.london understands that Arsenal remains hopeful that Partey will be available for the match against Spurs.
The Ghanaian was forced to leave national team duty early after picking up a knee injury ahead of their clash with Brazil. Speaking after that news though manager Otto Addo admitted this had been as more of a precautionary measure.
“Hopefully Thomas will be healthy very, very soon,” he said. “We didn’t want to take that risk in a friendly game to play him against Brazil, but surely playing a player like him against a squad like Brazil would have been helpful.”
In Arsenal’s last 45 Premier League games, Partey has featured in 28 of them. The Gunners have won 20 matches he has featured in, with Arsenal only winning eight of the 17 matches he has missed.
Arsenal’s win percentage with Partey in the side is 71.4%, but it is only 47% when he is absent. It is because of this that Arteta’s side average 2.2 points per game compared to 1.5 points per game when the Ghanaian is not on the pitch.
The Gunners’ scoring rate also increases with Partey in the team, with an average goal rate of 2.0 per 90 minutes, but this decreases to 1.5 without him in the side. Not only does the scoring end benefit, but Arsenal also concede less with the 29-year-old in the team, as the defence on average allow the opposition to score 1.0 goals per game, compared to 1.6 goals when Partey is not in the team.
Arsenal have notoriously struggled at away grounds against the top-six teams in the past. But, having Partey available in the midfield certainly increases the chances of Arsenal winning, as the statistics prove.
Partey’s presence will be crucial for the Gunners in such a momentous fixture. He could be the key difference between Arsenal winning or losing the North London Derby, as his influence on Arteta’s side has previously proved.
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