Although Arsenal have all but surrendered the Premier League title to Manchester City following a poor run of form in recent weeks, Mikel Arteta will be aiming to finish the season on a high with two wins.

With a place in the Champions League secured for the first time since 2016/17, the Spaniard can go into the final two games against Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers free of any pressure – and this could see a few changes to the starting XI.

Last week's feeble performance against Brighton & Hove Albion summed up the final third of Arsenal’s campaign, as they held a solid lead over City in the hunt for the title, but just two wins from their previous seven matches handed Pep Guardiola’s men the advantage.

Against the Seagulls, Arsenal’s midfield trio of Martin Odegaard, Jorginho and Granit Xhaka lost possession 21 times between them while managing just 105 touches combined, and this played a big part in them losing the midfield battle and subsequently the match.

Unleashing Thomas Partey against Forest could perhaps prevent this from happening again this evening, and he is arguably due a big performance.

Will Thomas Partey start for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest today?

The midfielder was criticised by journalist Charles Watts for his poor performance against City last month, who said: “Horrendous tracking of De Bruyne by Partey for the goal”, and it was clear that the Belgian star was causing him major concerns during their 4-1 defeat.

Despite this below-par display, the Ghanaian has still enjoyed a strong campaign as Arsenal came so close to their first title in 19 years.

His average Sofascore rating of 7.1/10 in the Premier League this term ranks him as the fourth-best player in the squad, while he also ranks highly for tackles per game (first), interceptions per game (fourth) and accurate passes per game (fourth), underlining his importance to Arteta.

Following a 1-1 draw against Brentford earlier this year, he was branded an “absolute monster” by journalist Abhimanyu Bose, while fellow journalist Yaw Ampofo Jr lauded the midfielder, claiming that he “brings stability to Arsenal” and over the course of the season, judging by his statistics, he has been one of Arteta’s finest performers.

The £200k-per-week star should be unleashed against Forest this evening as three points will set the club up well for their last league match of the season.