EPL

Partey could make Arsenal return at Leicester, Jesus progressing well

By Sports Desk February 24, 2023

Thomas Partey could return when Arsenal face Leicester City on Saturday and Mikel Arteta revealed Gabriel Jesus is "progressing well."

Partey missed the Gunners' defeat to Manchester City and the win at Aston Villa due to a muscle injury.

The midfielder, who has started all 18 of the league games he has been available for this season, may be back at the King Power Stadium this weekend, though, as the Gunners attempt to remain top of the Premier League table.

Arteta told reporters on Friday: "Thomas hasn't trained much, but looks like he could be available. Let's see how he trains today.

"He's a really important player for us, hopefully he can be available."

Jesus has been out since suffering a knee injury while he was on Brazil duty at the World Cup in December, but Arteta has provided an encouraging update on the striker's recovery.

"He's progressing really well. He's doing more and more on the field and he's not reacting [negatively], so that's really positive," Arteta said of Jesus.

"We want to have him as quickly as possible but also respect the timeframe we got from the doctor and the specialists. He's really pushing the boundaries right now."

Arsenal are two points clear of City with a game in hand after coming from behind twice to beat Villa 4-2 before the champions drew at Nottingham Forest.

Manchester United are only five points adrift of the Gunners, however, and Arteta does not believe it is a two-horse race for the title.

He said: "I think there are more teams involved and every day is going to be a race. Today it's how we convince those players to train better, to play better against Leicester.

"We're going to have to be really good to beat them, especially with the way they've been playing in the last few weeks."

Related items

  • Wolves make Doyle move permanent as midfielder leaves Man City Wolves make Doyle move permanent as midfielder leaves Man City

    Wolves have taken up their option to sign Tommy Doyle from Manchester City on a permanent deal.

    The 22-year-old midfielder has made 30 appearances in all competitions for Wolves after joining the club on loan this season.

    Wolves have now exercised their option to make the move permanent, which will take effect on July 1, for a reported fee of just under £5 million.

    Doyle has signed a four-year contract with Wolves, with an option for two further years, tying him to the Molineux club until at least 2028.

    He previously spent loan spells with Hamburg and Cardiff City, before helping Sheffield United win promotion from the Championship last season. 

    The Man City academy product also made seven appearances for Pep Guardiola's side.

    "We’ve never seen Tommy as a player on loan, and he hasn’t acted like one," said Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs after the deal was confirmed on Friday.

    "He’s gradually earned more minutes and become more important, which I think is an ideal first year. What he offers to our midfield is something different to the others, so there was a huge amount of inevitability to this.

    "He buys into who we are as a club and what we’re trying to create culturally within the group. He’s a great player to have for what we’re trying to achieve off the pitch and he gives us so much on the pitch, so he’s the exact type of player I think Wolves should be signing."

    Hobbs is confident that Doyle has a bright future in the game, adding: "If you look at the type of players we like to sign as a football club, they generally haven’t reached their ceiling yet and have loads more to come.

    "Tommy is a fraction of the player he will become, with the more he gets used to the league and the greater his understanding gets.

    "I’m really excited for now but also his future at Wolves."

    Man City play Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, but Doyle is ineligible to take part.

    As well as expressing his excitement at joining Wolves, he reflected on his City exit, saying: "I’ve had many, many years as a City player, coming through the academy and eventually playing for the first-team, and I take great pride in what I’ve done for that club..

    "It’s nice to close that chapter and open up the new one with Wolves and try to progress as much as I can and keep enjoying it.

    "I wanted to have somewhere where I’m stable, essentially somewhere I enjoy, and I enjoy it here. It’ll be good to do it all again next season.

    "It’s amazing. I’m really happy. I found out not too long ago what’s going to happen and it’s obviously very exciting for me, having enjoyed this season so far, and I’m looking forward to trying to better what we’ve done next season.

    "I’ve known for a little while that there were talks, and the other day it was more official. I’ve enjoyed it here, everyone’s been really great with me, the manager, the staff and especially the lads. It’ll be good to battle in the league again with them next season."

    Wolves are 11th in the Premier League with three games to play in Gary O'Neil's first season in charge.

    "You can see the way we’ve played this season, some of our football’s been really good," added Doyle, who has played for England up to Under-21 level.

    "We’ve been very unlucky with injuries, and it’s died out a bit the last couple of games which has been frustrating, but that’s something we’ll learn from.

    "The club said they were happy with what I’ve done this season and, for me, I feel there’s a lot more I can give. We’re going in the right direction as a club, we’re progressing, so it’s exciting to be part of that journey."

  • Pochettino's Chelsea future still unsure despite Tottenham win Pochettino's Chelsea future still unsure despite Tottenham win

    Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he will need time to turn things around at Chelsea, but is unsure if he will be given it.

    The Blues kept their hopes of a European place alive on Thursday with an impressive 2-0 victory over Pochettino's former side, Tottenham, thanks to goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson.

    Despite getting back to winning ways, the Argentinian’s future at the club is still subject to speculation as the end of the season draws closer.

    Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Pochettino said he does not know what the future holds for him at Chelsea.

    He said: "Maybe today because we won, I can explain a little bit better. I want to say enough is enough. I think all managers need time to translate their ideas and their philosophy. We need to have time, but it is not my decision.

    "It's difficult to see every single week that I am under scrutiny and judgement. Yes, it's not my decision to be here or not to be here.

    "I cannot tell you. I can say nothing. If we want to match the history of Chelsea, I think there is a lot of work to do. We will see if we have time to build this way.

    "I am so, so proud of the guys, all the squad we have - 25, 27 players. I work for them. We want the best for them. Until the last day, we are going to work for them."

    Chelsea were missing 14 first-team players through injury against Spurs but earned three points, which moved them above West Ham into eighth with 51 points.

    Pochettino added: "Today was fantastic, full credit to the players. It is my first time in the season I really do feel so, so happy.

    "It is the moment after 10 months the team really starts to realise how we need to compete. Today we competed really well against a great team.

    " [We may need] some luck to have this type of result, it helps give belief to the players that this is the way. "

  • 'Everything that could go wrong, did' - McGinn reflects on Olympiacos defeat 'Everything that could go wrong, did' - McGinn reflects on Olympiacos defeat

    Aston Villa captain, John McGinn said that “everything that could have gone wrong, did” after their Europa Conference League semi-final first-leg defeat to Olympiacos on Thursday.

    Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for Olympiacos, netting twice in the first half, though Villa fought back through Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby.

    El Kaabi converted a spot-kick before a deflected Santiago Hezze strike put the visitors back in control.

    Douglas Luiz also missed a late penalty, leaving Villa with a two-goal deficit to overturn in the second leg next Thursday.

    Asked what he felt went wrong for the Villans, McGinn, speaking to TNT Sports, said: "Not the game we wanted. We wanted a lot more control. We started the game well.

    "They're a good side. We wanted a victory going to Greece. We showed we're capable of coming back.

    "Mistakes all round tonight. We'll take responsibility, but it's up to us to go to Athens and turn it around because we're capable.

    "They played very well tactically. They played the way we expected, so there were no surprises.

    "Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did."

    He added: "The manager was still positive in there. There's still a long way to go.

    "We need to play a lot better than we did tonight, but we're more than capable of doing it.

    "Hopefully we'll have a few players back. The onus is on us to attack Olympiacos and score some goals.

    "We have a mountain to climb, but we know we're capable."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.