Arsenal's terrific start to the 2022/23 season has warranted plenty of praise for Mikel Arteta's players. And rightly so.
The Gunners are top of the Premier League after picking up 31 points out of a possible 35, losing only once in 12 games. Arteta has seemingly used the same XI throughout the season in his highly reliably 4-2-3-1 after finding a welcomed run of consistency within his squad.
One player who has made a huge difference this campaign is midfielder Thomas Partey. The Ghanian has appeared 13 times in all competitions this season but missed five games due to a thigh injury picked up in the 2-1 win over Fulham.
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Partey had formed a solid partnership in the middle of the park with Granit Xhaka and the pairs qualities have supplemented each other alarmingly well. With Partey anchored in a more defensive role, Xhaka has been handed a free pass to venture further forward and has scored four goals this season - equalling his best goal-scoring season already.
The Ghanian has suffered with endless injury concerns since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2020 but seems to be back to full fitness to help the Gunners encounter their best start to a Premier League campaign. And TalkSPORT's Darren Bent has labelled Partey as Arsenal's most important players over the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Aaron Ramsdale and Saka.
“My top four at Arsenal would be Ramsdale, Saliba, Partey who’s the glue, and then Gabriel Jesus. But Thomas Partey, when he’s not in that midfield, they look completely different,” Bent said on TalkSPORT.
“Then you’re asking Xhaka to play a role he doesn’t want to play. He wants the licence to go forward, get involved and score. When Partey’s not involved he can’t do that. He is the most important player at that club.”
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