Don't Miss

Arsenal boss provides update on Tierney, Partey, Aubameyang ahead of Man Utd clash

By mac14 on January 27, 2021

Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe ahead of Arsenal’s huge clash with Manchester United on Saturday.

Aubameyang has missed Arsenal’s last two matches due to personal reasons and Arteta says the striker is ‘having a difficult time’. The club and players are behind their skipper but Arteta isn’t sure when the Gabon hitman will be available again so it looks like Auba will miss the visit of Man Utd this weekend.

Tierney has also sat out Arsenal’s last two matches with Southampton due to a muscle issue and Arteta says the full-back will continue to be assessed ahead of Saturday’s showdown with United, so there is no guarantee he’ll be available for the game.

Arsenal were handed another concern last night when Partey limped off midway through the second half of our 3-1 win at St Mary’s. It appeared the midfielder was just suffering from severe cramp but Arteta says Partey was ‘struggling’ with some discomfort and he hopes it’s nothing serious.

Smith Rowe also limped off last night with a muscle problem. The attacking midfielder was ruled out of the FA Cup loss and wasn’t deemed fit enough to play the entire 90 minutes last night so he may have aggravated the issue.

Speaking after Arsenal’s win last night, Arteta told Arsenal.com:

on Partey having cramp…
We don’t know, we don’t know. He was feeling some discomfort and hopefully it’s nothing, but he was struggling.

on whether Tierney could return for Manchester United…
I don’t know. He wasn’t available against Southampton in the FA Cup, he was injured. He’s still injured today. Let’s see how he progresses for the game against Man United.

on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang…
No [there’s no update] but I love how they support each other and how they protect each other. Auba is having a difficult time. We are all behind him and this win is for him.

on Emile Smith Rowe…
He was injured for the game in the FA Cup so he wasn’t available. We knew that he probably could not play the whole game today. He has some muscular discomfort so he had to come off again.

Let’s hope we have positive news on all four players over the coming days as it would be a huge blow for Arsenal’s chances of beating Man Utd if Tierney, Aubameyang, Partey and Smith Rowe were ruled out of the game.

Dani Ceballos missed last night’s game with a calf injury so it remains to be seen whether he’ll be involved at the weekend while Pablo Mari is ruled out with a muscle injury so Arsenal have plenty of concerns heading into the United clash.