Premier League legend Alan Shearer has urged Mikel Arteta to start Thomas Partey ahead of Jorginho in the Arsenal match against Everton.
The Ghanaian is back in training, but it is yet to be seen if he is ready to play as Arsenal seeks to avenge the 1-0 loss they suffered in the reverse game.
Sean Dyche beat the Gunners in his first match as the boss of the Toffees and Arsenal will now look to prove that result was a fluke.
They will need their best men on the pitch to achieve that and Shearer believes Partey offers better protection to the defence than Jorginho.
He says, as quoted by Football London:
“That work Partey does in there [defensive midfield] is invaluable.
“If you speak to the two Arsenal centre-halves and say ‘how comfortable are you with or without Partey in there?’ There is no doubt they much prefer to have him in there because he makes them look better players.
“I am not saying their job is easy, but he makes their job easier, in terms of the way he sits in there, his experience, his know-how in that position and helping out and sniffing out trouble. He actually sniffs it out before anybody else sees it, that’s what is so good about him.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Partey is the best defensive midfielder at Arsenal and arguably the best in the league, so we do not compare him with Jorginho.
However, the Italian has also done well in the last few games and can lead us to victory against the Toffees.
We should only start Partey if he is fit enough.
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I think partey should start only if fit so as to reduce his risk of injury.We need him for the long run
They can both start in my opinion, it’s a no brainer
I don’t mind Jorginho and Partey starting, as Xhaka seems off somehow, with xhaka and Smith-rowe as 2nd half subs.
We must give Everton fire after fire.
Xaka has played every game this season I think or a bloody lot. He should be rested at some point imho
Only if he is ready. Jorgi has been doing well and seems to already fit in MA system. We need our players to have a winning mentality for the match, and we can get the 3 points. The last time when we faced them, it was a disaster as they were able to stop our key players. I hope MA learned his lesson and will shuffle the team before using the same formation.
I would love to see us try starting Tierney and pushing Zinchenko up to maybe give Xhaka a rest. Zinchenko pretty much plays in that position anyway.
I wd love to see Xhaka and Zichenko starting and Tierney wd be brought as the replacement for Xhaka then zichenko shifts to play xhaka’s role and Tierney comes to his number three (3) then infront Matineli wd start in place of Nkethia then Leandro in the left wing, Saka remains in his position. Not jast leaving Xhaka out like that it will cause problems in the midfield. Those are my opinions.