Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has suggested on the club’s official website that Takehiro Tomiyasu may not play against Graham Potter’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the London derby this weekend.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will lock horns with Graham Potter’s Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.
Japan international right-back Tomiyasu recently returned to full fitness and has been playing well for Arsenal.
However, the full-back suffered an injury against FC Zurich at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Thursday evening.
Tomiyasu replaced Ben White on 73 minutes in the UEFA Europa League match, but he limped off with two minutes remaining
And Arteta has admitted that he does not know if the Japanese star will play against Chelsea this weekend.
MIKEL ARTETA ON TAKEHIRO TOMIYASU FOR ARSENAL V CHELSEA
Arteta said about Tomiyasu: “We don’t know [what the issue is]. He felt something and we didn’t want to take any risks. With the amount of games that we’re playing, it’s part of it.
“It can happen in training, it can happen in games and unfortunately, it happened to Tomi today.
“The rest of the players have to be ready because we’re going to need everybody now. We have managed the load of the players in the last four weeks because of the amount of games that we have played.
“It is very difficult to get the balance and to get the right performances and win matches, and resting some players and keeping them fresh is always challenging, we have tried to do our best. Today we had bad news with Tomiyasu, but I think for the rest it has worked pretty well.”
NO BIG LOSS
In our opinion, if Takehiro Tomiyasu does not play against Chelsea, then it will not be a massive blow for Arsenal.
Ben White has been playing well at right-back so far this season despite being a centre-back by trade, and he could easily play in that role against Chelsea.
Now, of course, Tomiyasu is a specialised right-back and having him in the squad would be a very good for Arsenal, but the Gunners will be confident of winning the London derby even without him.
