Mikel Arteta confirmed Arsenal will be without three important players for Premier League clash vs Liverpool

Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday that Thomas Partey will not play in Arsenal’s Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners take on Jürgen Klopp’s men this weekend in an extremely important match at the top of the Premier League table. A win will put Arsenal firmly back in the title race, while a defeat could see them knocked out of the fight for top spot.

One of the blows for Arteta’s men ahead of this important match is the news that Arteta has ruled out Partey, who was heading towards his long-awaited return.

Speaking about the Ghanaian midfielder’s condition, Arteta told reporters: “With Thomas, unfortunately we had a minor complication a few days ago, so he will not be available for the squad. Whether it is a matter of days or weeks we will see, but he had a small problem. I am not a doctor, but I will try to [explain]! He recognized something in a very similar area and has not been able to train in recent days.

“It is a big concern because he is such an important player for us and at the beginning of the season he was gaining momentum, but then we lost him for a while. Now it’s been a long time without him and he gives us something very different that no other player in the squad can give us. We really miss him.”

There was more positive news about Gabriel Jesus, who was a doubt for this game after injuring his knee in the game against Nottingham Forest in midweek. Arteta announced that the Brazilian would be ready to play, saying: “Gabi has obviously been playing and training with us all week.”

Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber are still on long-term absences and the latter is not expected back until the end of the season. Vieira could return this month but will not be ready for the Liverpool game.

Arteta, who discussed the Portuguese’s condition in early January, said: “He’s fine again, but it was an operation that required two different things to achieve results. Obviously he’s still a bit away from what we want, but he has to keep working and hopefully he will be [available] in the next few weeks.”