Mikel Arteta admits he does not know the extent of Thomas Partey’s injury after the midfielder was substituted on Sunday against Aston Villa.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Thomas Partey of Arsenal shoots under pressure from Trezeguet of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on November 08, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 08: Thomas Partey of Arsenal shoots under pressure from Trezeguet of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Whether you can point to Partey’s half-time substitution with a thigh problem as the reason Arsenal collapsed or not they were hardly doing well with him on the pitch.

There is, after all, only so much one man can fix.

Spotted after the break with an ice-pack on his thigh, Partey was replaced by Dani Ceballos and now looks set to sit out the international break, if not longer.

“We don’t know [the extent] of it,” Arteta said after the match. “We have to scan him tomorrow or the day after and see what he felt straight away. Let’s wait and see what the magnitude of the injury is.

“I don’t know [if he will go away with Ghana now]. As I said, the doctor will have to have a look at him and probably scan him. Then we will decide what to do with him.”

There is absolutely no need for me to go over what we all saw on Sunday. It was embarrassing and, if we’re honest, more than a little concerning.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on November 08, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andy Rain - Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 08: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium (Photo by Andy Rain – Pool/Getty Images)

“I don’t feel like we were the team we’re supposed to be, we performed below our standards, our ability and I didn’t see the spirit for the first time that I have seen every day in training and every day when we compete,” Arteta continued.

“This is totally my fault, it is why I am here, I am responsible for that, to make sure the team performs and competes at the highest level every three days. Today I haven’t done that, so obviously it is my fault.

“It is very tough to find the reasons. I cannot say I have seen a change or this week that we have trained a different way. I would be lying if I said that.

“But obviously there was something there today that [Villa] wanted much more than us, and they showed it.

“At the end of the day, if you are late in every decision you make, if you don’t win enough duels, if every second ball isn’t for us, you don’t show the quality with the ball, you cannot defend your box, and when you get chances you don’t even hit the target, it is a really complicated way to win football matches.”

UPDATE: Thomas Partey pulls out of international duty after injury

Thomas Partey will pull out of international duty after his injury against Aston Villa on Sunday, according to a report.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Thomas Partey of Arsenal shoots under pressure from Trezeguet of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on November 08, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Thomas Partey of Arsenal shoots under pressure from Trezeguet of Aston Villa on November 08, 2020. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Charles Watts reports that Thomas Partey will stay with Arsenal over the international break after picking up a thigh injury against Aston Villa. The midfielder received a call-up to play for Ghana, but he’s no longer planning to make the trip.

As we covered after the match, Mikel Arteta doesn’t yet know the extent of the injury. They’re planning scans today or tomorrow to assess the severity of the problem. But it seems the decision to hold him back from internationals is now made.

Partey came off at half-time against Villa, but he picked up the injury after just seven or eight minutes. It’s not exactly clear why he played on until half-time despite carrying the problem.

If we’re being optimistic, it may mean the injury isn’t too serious, and the international break will be enough to get him back fit again. A more pessimistic outlook is that he may have done further damage by staying on.

We should find out more in the coming days, once Arsenal’s assessments are complete.

Full November fixture list for Arsenal players on international duty

Arsenal players are set for a busy international break, so if you want to keep up with all the games, here’s our full fixture list.

Thomas Partey with Ghana (Photo via Ghana on Twitter)
Thomas Partey with Ghana (Photo via Ghana on Twitter)

First things first, let’s take a look at the Arsenal players called up by their senior national teams for the upcoming break. It’s probably the longest list we’ve had for a while.

  • Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Germany), Runar Alex Runarsson (Iceland), Karl Hein (Estonia)
  • Defenders: Kieran Tierney (Scotland), Sead Kolasinac (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Hector Bellerin (Spain), Daniel Ballard (Northern Ireland)
  • Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Granit Xhaka (Switzerland), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Lucas Torreira (Uruguay), Bukayo Saka (England), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (England)
  • Forwards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)

There are still a few notable absentees. Gabriel Magalhaes has made a fantastic start to the season with Arsenal, but he’s in the Brazil Olympic Squad (the u23s) for this one.

Eddie Nketiah is in the England u21s, Matteo Guendouzi in the France u21s.

Full internationals Cedric Soares, Alexandre Lacazette, and Willian miss out with Portugal, France, and Brazil respectively, whilst Dani Ceballos drops out after making the last squad for Spain.

As for the rest, here’s our chronological fixture list over the November break (times in GMT).

Wednesday, 11th November

  • Germany vs Czech Republic – 19:45
  • Italy vs Estonia – 19:45
  • Netherlands vs Spain – 19:45
  • Belgium vs Switzerland – 19:45

Thursday, 12th November

  • Ghana vs Sudan – 16:00
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Iran – 17:00
  • Gabon vs Gambia – 19:00
  • Ivory Coast vs Madagascar – 19:00
  • Hungary vs Iceland – 19:45
  • Serbia vs Scotland – 19:45
  • Northern Ireland vs Slovakia – 19:45
  • England vs Ireland – 20:00

Friday, 13th November

  • Colombia vs Uruguay – 20:30

Saturday, 14th November

  • Egypt vs Togo – 19:00
  • Germany vs Ukraine – 19:45
  • Switzerland vs Spain – 19:45

Sunday, 15th November

  • North Macedonia vs Estonia – 14:00
  • Slovakia vs Scotland – 14:00
  • Netherlands vs Bosnia and Herzegovina – 17:00
  • Austria vs Northern Ireland – 19:45
  • Belgium vs England – 19:45
  • Denmark vs Iceland – 19:45 – Runarsson will not feature in this game. He won’t travel to Denmark due to the current UK government restrictions involving the country.

Monday, 16th November

  • Gambia vs Gabon – 16:00

Tuesday, 17th November

  • Sudan vs Ghana – 13:00
  • Madagascar vs Ivory Coast – 13:00
  • Togo vs Egypt – 16:00
  • Spain vs Germany – 19:45
  • Switzerland vs Ukraine – 19:45
  • Uruguay vs Brazil – 23:00

Wednesday, 18th November

  • Georgia vs Estonia – 17:00
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy – 19:45
  • England vs Iceland – 19:45
  • Israel vs Scotland – 19:45
  • Northern Ireland vs Romania – 19:45