Arsenal news: Thomas Partey ‘a big miss’ in PSG defeat

Arsenal lacked “balance” without midfielder Thomas Partey in the side against Paris St-Germain, says former Gunners defender Matt Upson.

Partey picked up his third yellow card of this season’s Champions League in the previous match against Real Madrid and was suspended for the first leg of the semi-final.

Also shorn of the injured Jorginho, Arsenal struggled for control in a 1-0 defeat by the Ligue 1 champions.

“You can look at Thomas Partey not being there as a reason why Saka was not getting the ball,” Upson told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast.

“I don’t want to go too deeply into why Partey is so important to them but, it was just more the balance. Playing with a different kind of feel and balance can disrupt the way you feed key players.”

French football expert Julien Laurens agreed and said Partey’s absence had an impact on the rest of the midfield.

“For [Declan] Rice to play in that position, he doesn’t have the same pairings, doesn’t have the same relationship with players around him,” Laurens said.

“I thought it was a big miss. But, there is not much in it, there is still a lot to play for in that second leg in Paris, even with that slight advantage for the Parisians.”

Chief football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live John Murray added: “We mention Partey being suspended but it was a setback for Arsenal not to have Jorginho. I’m sure [Mikel] Arteta would have loved to have had just one of them out there .

“You also have Havertz – the top scorer who scored against PSG in October – not available, Gabriel at the back and Gabriel Jesus, so that is why you saw the youngsters there on the bench. That is not what you want on your bench for a big match like this. You want it to be as strong as possible.”

Listen to the full discussion on BBC Sounds