Arsenal came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 after Mikel Arteta made several changes, but one of them was forced.
Some questioned why Arteta brought Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus into the starting lineup, which somewhat disrupted Arsenal’s attacking flow, as he made three changes to the team which started the last two matches.
Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard dropped to the bench, with Kai Havertz moving into midfield, but Arsenal improved as the pair came on and Havertz started thriving as a centre-forward.
Bukayo Saka was one of the key stars of the show as he was involved in all three Arsenal goals, helping his team to victory, but heading into the game, Arteta faced a problem which one player ended up solving.
Thomas Partey solves Arsenal right-back issue vs Southampton
Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu were all doubtful for the Southampton game, leaving Arteta without a natural right-back to call upon.
Riccardo Calafiori played there in the second half against Paris Saint-Germain, but it was clear that he had never played there before, and Arsenal needed a solution against Southampton.
Timber and White missed out on the squad, with Tomiyasu making the bench for the first time this season, and Thomas Partey started at right-back for the first time since a 2-2 draw with Fulham over a year ago.
Some fans were dreading the prospect of Partey moving to the back four, but the midfielder did a superb job in supporting Saka on the right wing.
Partey completed 95% of his passes, with 10 of these entering the final third, whilst also completing three long balls.
Defensively, the Ghanian was solid, winning all four of his attempted tackles, before he was withdrawn for Tomiyasu in the 84th minute, as he solved Arteta’s dilemma at right-back.
Thomas Partey looks back to his physical best
Question marks have been raised over Partey’s physicality in recent months after several injuries, but the last few games have seen him raise his performance levels, and he put in a strong display against Southampton.
Speaking in the build-up to the game, Arteta claimed that he had never seen Partey in such good condition, with the 31-year-old appearing in every game this season so far.
“He’s a massive player for us and he’s shown that week in, week out. He’s started the season really well, really fit,” Arteta stated.
“The way he came back post-holiday was probably in the best condition that he’s been, which was really helpful as well.”
Partey defied his critics with his display at right-back, and he will now hope that he can maintain this run of fitness.
Arteta was able to rely on Partey to deliver in what was an unexpected injury crisis, but he will hope that at least one of his right-backs will always be available to avoid a repeat situation