PARTEY TIME FOR RICE
Arteta ready to pair stars Thomas and Dec together for first time
MIKEL ARTETA is ready to unleash the “very powerful” midfield combination of Declan Rice and Thomas Partey for the first time in the Premier League tonight.
The Ghana star started the league season playing at right-back and has played only 15 minutes since August after a spate of muscle injuries.
But the Gunners boss is delighted the £45million signing is finally fit to return to the squad and make an “impact” by starting at Sheffield United.
And the potential pairing with Rice, who joined the club last summer, can add a new dimension to Arsenal for the title run-in. “They only played in the Community Shield together in midfield,” said the Spaniard. “That tells you how much we have missed Thomas.
“The impact he can have for the next three months can be really big.
“He can also help Declan as well. I will have to see that chemistry on the pitch and those qualities, and the things we have to treat to make sure they play to their strengths and make each other better. But I think that will be a very powerful midfield.”
Partey, the departed Granit Xhaka and captain Martin Odegaard certainly had chemistry in the Arsenal midfield, with Jorginho bought in January 2023. Kai Havertz was deployed up front in the 4-1 win over Newcastle but Gabriel Jesus is fit to start after missing the last five matches with a knee injury.
Sheffield United are bottom after scoring only 22 goals this season, including a league-low of 12 in 13 home games. Arsenal have conceded only 23, including a leaguebest 11 on the road. And while scoring 25 in their last six games,
they have only let in three. “First of all it is the approach of the players,” Arteta (right) explained of the impressive stats. “It is up to them – 11 players are taking ownership and they are responsible for everything that happens on that field.
“And then their attitude, their love – that love for defending. You have to love it. If you don’t love, it’s because the manager is shouting and pushing at you.
“When you put something into their system and they enjoy doing that and take pride in doing that, they celebrate those defensive actions as they do an assist or a goal, you can take that to a different level.
“I think that is spreading amongst the team. That is contagious. The attacking part is contagious and that (defending) is contagious as well, and it is something that is really important in the team.”
Arteta also praised the incessant pressing of his team, adding: “Everybody has to be connected because every space, the timing of it, the approach, the distances that you have between the players, to read certain intentions and structures of the opponent... it is a lot of things but they know it now.
“I think it flows, they do it in a natural way and it is efficient.
‘‘We have to continue to do that.”