One Arsenal player has been unbelievable this season but Mikel Arteta should still drop him now

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has to make a few changes.

The Spaniard’s side has been troubled by injuries this season. He has been without key players on several occasions already, and that has hurt his side.

Arsenal are now six points behind Liverpool despite playing a game more. The title race is not over, but the margin for error now is really small.

Arteta will have to make a few bold decisions in the coming weeks. We have a suggestion for the Arsenal manager.

Why Mikel Arteta should drop Thomas Partey at Arsenal

Thomas Partey has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season.

The Ghana international looks like he has overcome all of his fitness issues, and his performances since the first international break have mostly been excellent.

Arteta hailed Partey after the win over Sporting CP by saying that was one of the best performances he had ever seen from him.

The former Atletico Madrid man hasn’t done a lot wrong this season, but we still think Arteta should push him to the bench to accommodate another player – Mikel Merino.

Partey’s presence on the pitch means Declan Rice has to play as a left-sided number eight. The Englishman has done a good job there, but he just doesn’t bring the best out of the left side of Arsenal’s pitch – especially the left winger.

That was evident against Fulham when Trossard got no help and was ignored on multiple occasions when he was in space and wanted the ball.

We think the best way to solve this issue would be to bring Rice back to his favourite number six role and deploy Merino further ahead on the left.

That would be a shame for Partey as he definitely deserves to play, but it’s either him or Rice that will have to make way for Merino. We just can’t see a world in which Rice doesn’t play.

READ MORE: Why Mikel Arteta had his head in his hands after seeing what Thomas Partey did during Arsenal vs Man United

How Arteta can solve Arsenal’s full-back problem if he drops Partey

Partey’s ability to play as a right-back makes him more valuable to the squad and he filled in there against Fulham on Sunday.

That’s because Jurrien Timber started on the opposite side to fill in as both Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko were unavailable.

Arteta could decide to keep Partey at right-back and Timber on the other side if the two left-backs mentioned above don’t return to action.

But, with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Kieran Tierney both available, we think it would be best to use them at left-back and bring Timber back on the opposite side.

That would solve the full-back problem while also bringing the best out of Arsenal’s midfield and left wing. We think Arteta should do this, but whether he will is anyone’s guess.