Forget Martin Odegaard, another Arsenal star was much worse against Bournemouth and it should concern Mikel Arteta

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Arsenal slumped to their fourth Premier League defeat of the season at home to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

Declan Rice gave the Gunners the lead in the first half, converting nicely after neat work from Martin Odegaard.

The Cherries responded in the second period, with Dean Huijsen nodding home an equaliser in the 67th minute.

Evanilson then gave the visitors the lead in scrappy fashion, controversially bundling the ball over the line with what might have been his elbow.

Bournemouth ultimately ran out 2-1 winners, with the result threatening Arsenal’s place in the top two in the league with three games remaining.

• READ MORE: Two winners and three losers from Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth

Thomas Partey was dreadful for Arsenal against Bournemouth

While fans were enthused by Rice’s showing, many supporters were frustrated with what Odegaard offered on the day.

The Norwegian may have ended the game poorly, but he was instrumental to everything Arsenal did well in the opening 45 minutes and created the Gunners’ goal.

The same can’t be said for Thomas Partey, who produced a diabolical display at the Emirates.

Partey was suspended for the midweek clash against Paris Saint-Germain, and Arsenal missed his ability to escape the press and progress the ball.

However, the Ghanaian didn’t offer these qualities against the south coast outfit.

Constantly giving the ball away with sloppy passes and turning into pressure, the midfielder was unusually poor in possession.

He was unwilling to break lines and try and force the issue, instead opting to play the ball incredibly conservatively throughout the match.

Off the ball, Bournemouth were regularly able to break through Arsenal’s press and drive at the home team’s back-line because of Partey’s lack of athleticism.

The former Atletico Madrid man was a non-factor in terms of stopping the Cherries’ transitions.

A disastrous out-of-possession display, Mikel Arteta will be extremely worried about what the likes of Ousmane Dembele (if fit) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could do against Partey on Wednesday night.

Thomas Partey’s statistics vs Bournemouth

Partey may have hoped the data would provide him with some redemption, but instead, the stats merely highlight how bad he was.

Completing 75% of his passes, the deep-lying playmaker played no accurate long balls, exposing how bleak he was on the ball.

Defensively, he was dribbled past three times, he won just four of his ten ground duels and made just one tackle.

Adding nothing in the final third, taking no shots and creating no chances, this was a disastrous all-around showing from the 31-year-old.

If Arteta had another viable option, he’d surely be considering dropping the player for the semi-final second leg in Paris.