Arsenal had the chance to secure top spot in their Europa League group if they matched or had a better result than PSV against FC Zurich. The Gunners’ 1-0 victory over the Swiss side means they have confirmed top spot.
One of the only negatives to come from Thursday's Europa League victory over FC Zurich was an injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu late in the game. Despite coming on as a substitute, he was then taken off just minutes later due to the muscular injury he suffered.
Speaking about Tomiyasu’s injury, Mikel Arteta said: “We don’t know. He has had a muscular issue and had to come off because we don’t want to take any risks. But we will assess him in the next 48 hours and decide what is best to do next."
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This made him a doubt ahead of the Chelsea match this afternoon. However, his latest Instagram post suggests that he surprisingly could be in line to play for the Gunners against their London rivals.
Tomiyasu turned 24-years-old on Saturday and he posted a picture of himself in an Arsenal’s away kit. The Japanese international rarely uses Instagram, with his most recent post before his birthday announcement coming almost a month before.
With Arsenal also playing away against Chelsea on the weekend, it could have provided a hint that Tomiyasu is available for selection. This would be a major boost for the Gunners considering that he has overtaken Kieran Tierney as Arteta’s first-choice left-back in recent weeks.
Tierney has been unused by Mikel Arteta in recent times with Tomiyasu the preferred option at left-back. Salt was rubbed into his wounds last Sunday as Cedric Soares, who is naturally a right-back, came on to play left-back instead of Tierney against Nottingham Forest.
However, in the match against FC Zurich, Tierney was given the chance to impress the Arsenal boss and he did exactly that. He was the best performer in a team side that struggled through the evening, and it was his goal that secured top spot for the Gunners in the Europa League.
This certainly caused debate on who should be the number left-back option going forward with Oleksandr Zinchenko also returning from injury. It seemed like Arteta’s decision was made easy on who to play at left-back in the game against Chelsea after Tomiyasu was believed to be injured, but his latest social media post may hint that he is still available for selection.
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