Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that defender Oleksandr Zinchenko is suffering with an injury amid his decision to start Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back. The decision to start the Japan international - who usually plays at right-back - raised plenty of questions before the game.
While Zinchenko is injured, natural left-back Kieran Tierney was benched by Arteta for the game, with Tomiyasu facing off against the dangerous Mohamed Salah. However, it isn't something that the manager has done on a whim, having previously discussed his ability to play several positions.
"Tomi has been playing left centre back for his national team Japan. When you look at the games, he can play as a left back too, because you cannot tell me if he’s a left or right-footed player," said Arteta.
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“So we have the options there, and we have to utilise them in the best possible way. Especially with the number of minutes we are going to have in the next few weeks, and it’s great that players are comfortable doing more than one position.”
It remains to be seen if that decision is one that will pay off for the Spaniard, but it could be a game-changing one when it comes to the match. Plenty of fans questioned it, but Arteta has since explained the team news on Sky Sports, saying: "We had some opportunities in that position so we decided to go with Tomi."
A notable exclusion, however, was that of Zinchenko, who didn't take part in the international break and as football.london previously reported, wasn't involved in training during the week. Discussing his absence, Arteta said: "He [Zinchenko] had another muscle injury and lets see how it evolves in the next few days."
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