No Partey, Nketiah and Gabriel for our first PL games.
Thomas Partey
Right ankle. Thomas sustained an injury to ligaments in his right ankle during the friendly match against Chelsea last Sunday. Thomas continues to be assessed and is expected to be back in training in approximately three weeks.
Eddie Nketiah
Right ankle. Eddie sustained bruising to his right ankle during the friendly match against Chelsea last Sunday. Eddie continues to be assessed and is expected to be back in training in approximately four weeks.
Gabriel Magalhaes
Right knee. Gabriel sustained an injury to his right knee whilst with the Brazilian Olympic Squad. Gabriel is currently being assessed and is aiming to be back in training in the forthcoming weeks.
Partey back training in three weeks right at the end of the window, will probably take what, another two weeks to get totally fit. That puts us mid September. This really is the nightmare scenario. He’ll be in and out because of internationals, then off to AFCON.
My guess is that they don’t want Partey or Gabriel going on that first international break. Get them healthy and fit, somehow survive August without them, then you come out of the first international break in early September with your whole squad.
Brentford is huge. If Arteta gets three points there, he can probably get 0-1 points against City and Chelsea combined and still not be under too much pressure. If we don’t beat Brentford, however, we might end August with 0-2 points.
Jumper’s knee I think. My understanding is that it’s one that varies a lot in terms of recovery time and you really don’t want to rush him back from. Rush him back and it can become a chronic thing.
I wonder, if we lose to Brentford, it will have the same effect on the board as it did after the 8-2 thrashing by Man U and will spur them into actually doing something proactive in the transfer market?