Former Arsenal winger, Theo Walott, has said the team will miss Thomas Partey for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Partey is suspended for the game after he picked up a booking in the 2-1 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
The Ghanaian midfielder was booked for dissent after Bukayo Saka was fouled in the closing stages.
Walcott, speaking to BBC MOTD, said: “Arsenal and Paris St-Germain are definitely the two best teams in this season’s Champions League, and the semi-final is going to be a completely different story to when Mikel Arteta’s side beat them 2-0 at the Emirates in October.
“PSG hadn’t really clicked then, but they have now. Arsenal will be ready for them, but I think they might miss Thomas Partey, who is suspended after his yellow card tonight.
“He was so important at the Bernabeu, not just with the way he was getting back into the back-line and to help out with the amount of crosses he was dealing with tonight.
“Partey was also helping Arsenal to slow the ball down and to control the midfield. The PSG game is all going to be about the midfield for me and Declan Rice is now probably going to play a game with someone who he is less familiar with.
“Mikel Merino can drop in there, but that might affect the forward line more because of where he has been playing recently.
“This is what Mikel Arteta will be thinking about now, and he might tinker with a few things against Ipswich and Crystal Palace, to try things out before the semi-final.”
