Thomas Partey Arsenal FC
Thomas Partey Arsenal FC

Arsenal suffered an untimely defeat on Monday, losing 3-0 to Crystal Palace and they could be staring at another defeat this coming weekend.

The Gunners take on Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday in the Premier League and Mikel Arteta is going to miss some very important players for this match.

The first and perhaps the most prominent absence will be that of Kieran Tierney who picked up an injury last week in training and the club have confirmed that the left-back is going to miss the remainder of the season.

The club have put out an official statement that read: “Kieran felt discomfort after a training session on Thursday, March 31. Further assessments and scans have confirmed that Kieran has damaged his left knee.

“A specialist consultation took place on Tuesday, and as a result of further discussions with Kieran and our medical team, it has been decided that Kieran requires surgery to his knee. This procedure will take place in London in the forthcoming days.

“Kieran’s rehabilitation programme will start immediately after his surgery, at which stage a clearer understanding will be established on his recovery timescale. However, it is likely that Kieran will now miss the remainder of this season.”

Thomas Partey is another player who is expected to be absent this weekend after the midfielder picked up an injury during the 3-0 loss on Monday.

Arsenal have not yet confirmed his absence but chances are he is not going to be fully fit by Saturday.

Takehiro Tomiyasu will also miss the Arsenal vs Brighton tie since he’s still recovering from a calf injury and will only return to training after the 16th of April.

Does the Arsenal manager has proper backups?

The right-back problem is not going to be an issue because Cedric has done really well in that position but the left-back and the midfield region will give the manager major headaches.

Arsenal are working with a very thin squad so Mikel Arteta does not have any high-quality backups in those areas.

Nuno Tavares is the natural replacement for Tierney but he had a nightmare of a game against Palace. The Arsenal boss will love to use someone else in that role but apart from Tavares, he does not have any other options.

Without Thomas Partey, Xhaka will look really average in midfield since he is possibly going to be partnered by Lokonga.

Odegaard is another option to play in a more central role but Brighton are a wonderful passing team so we doubt if the Norwegian will be able to break up the play in the middle of the pitch and then build from the back.

Thankfully, Brighton are in really poor form as they have lost four out of their previous five matches, drawing the other one so if Arsenal can dig deep they should see this one through but with so many key players out injured, we doubt if they will be able to hold on for too long.

Click here for all the latest Premier League News.