Forget Tavares: AFC dud who lost the ball every 4 touches was Arteta's real liability - opinion

Arsenal made a miserable return to Premier League action last night after losing 3-0 away against Crystal Palace following the latest international break.

Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew in the first half gave the Gunners a tough task in the second period of the game at Selhurst Park.

However, a penalty from Wilfried Zaha sealed all three points for Patrick Vieira’s side and put the nail in the coffin for the visitors on this occasion.

In terms of the individual performances for Arsenal, one figure that stood out for all the wrong reasons was midfielder Thomas Partey.

With 56 touches of the ball in total, the Ghanaian ended up giving the ball away for his side on 14 occasions, once every four touches.

From a defensive perspective, off the ball, the 28-year-old, who has been slammed for his “stupid” decision-making in the past, gave his side next to nothing, which is reflective of the scoreline.

The midfielder ended up failing to make even one tackle, block, interception or clearance, in addition to getting dribbled past twice and giving three fouls away, picking up a yellow card for his troubles, making him a real liability in the middle of the pitch on this occasion.

The former Atletico Madrid figure also managed to lose 78% of his duels, showing how easy it was for the Palace midfielders and attackers to play against him.

This display ultimately earned Partey a disheartening overall match rating of 5.9 from SofaScore, making him the joint-lowest rated player for Mikel Arteta’s side, lower than defender Nuno Tavares who was hooked at halftime after an abysmal showing himself.

Football.London also picked up on Partey’s poor performance by saying that he was “hideously loose in possession.”

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