Arsenal: Thomas Partey-Declan Rice midfield being primed as Gunners grow stronger in title run-in

After Liverpool and Manchester City both won at the weekend, the pressure is on Arsenal to respond tonight.

The Gunners' title charge is gaining momentum and they head to Sheffield United looking to make it seven League wins in a row.

Arsenal are odds-on to do that, given the Blades are bottom of the table, with only three victories.

Mikel Arteta, however, believes it will take at least 90 points to win the title and Arsenal cannot afford any slip-ups.

A win would narrow the gap on leaders Liverpool to just two points and Arsenal would be one off City in second, with the League's top two sides set to go head to head at Anfield on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta

The Gunners faded during the final part of last season, but this time they are getting stronger.

Thomas Partey is set to be in the squad tonight for the first time since October after a thigh injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu are close to comebacks after calf problems, while Jurrien Timber is being integrated into full training having been out since August with a knee injury.

Arteta has previously bemoaned having a thin squad, but there is a chance he will have everyone back fit by the time Arsenal head to the Etihad on March 31.

Asked if he is relishing the selection headaches that are about to come his way, Arteta said: "Yes — but having those options as well.

"And first of all putting always the intention of what is the best way to hurt this opponent, and what is the best line-up to give us the best chance to win.

"Then there is always the difficulty of putting one player on the bench over starting another, but I think we are going to have a lot of time and a lot of minutes for players in the next three months."

It is usually around this time of the season that Pep Guardiola gets creative and his last innovation has been to deploy John Stones as a 'box-to-box centre-back'.

A fully fit squad would allow Arteta to be unpredictable with his teams and help Arsenal compete with their rivals.

There were times Arteta was criticised for rigorously sticking to his plan, but there have been signs recently he is shifting away from that. In the absence of left-backs Tomiyasu and Zinchenko, Arteta has flipped his system and tasked Ben White with tucking into midfield from the opposite flank.

The return of Partey, in particular, provides even more scope for tactical flexibility, with the Ghanaian able to play at right-back or in midfield.

It is his role in the latter that most excites Arteta, who believes Partey and Rice could form a "very powerful midfield".

Tonight may be too early to deploy it from the start, but it would be no surprise if Rice and Partey played together at the Etihad at the end of this month.

The only time they have been paired together in midfield was the Community Shield against City in August, which Arsenal won on penalties. As much as a showdown with the defending champions is looming large, Arteta will not want to look past tonight and what is a huge nine days for Arsenal.

They host Brentford on Saturday before welcoming Porto three days later for the second leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League.

Arsenal have scored 25 goals in their past six League games. Bukayo Saka has led the way in that run with seven goals and he should relish facing a shaky defence.

The Blades have already shipped 66 goals in 26 games and not since Ipswich during the 1963-64 season has a top-flight defence been this leaky at this stage of the campaign.