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Louise Thomas
Editor
Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is set to remain in north London rather than travel to play for national side Ghana during the international break.
The Gunners have already dealt with injury problems this season with Mikel Merino sustaining an injury in his first training session with the club, and Jurrien Timber and Ben White also spending time on the sidelines.
Partey played as a makeshift right back during Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Southampton at the weekend, he has stepped into an important role for Mikel Arteta.
This season, Partey has been a key and almost ever-present part of Arteta’s side, as well as playing a full part in both of Ghana’s games during the September international break. However, last season’s injury problems saw him sit out eight consecutive matches for his country.
Footballers’ workloads and concerns over the implications of the fixture schedule have been spoken about regularly recently.
Instead of joining up with Ghana for their two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches, home and away against Sudan, Partey will instead remain at London Colney, reportedly in part because of an illness he has been suffering from over the last few days.
Kai Havertz will also miss out on playing for Germany, with their national side X account saying it was because of “knee problems”, despite the forward being fit enough to play the full match against Southampton.
Captain Martin Odegaard, who was injured on international duty for Norway, will focus on trying to recover from the ankle injury that has kept him sidelined for most of the season so far for Arsenal.
The Gunners go into the international break unbeaten in 16 matches across all competitions, and they became the second club after Manchester United to secure 400 Premier League home victories.
