Arsenal could be without Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu for their Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Monday.
Mikel Arteta is preparing his players for the trip to Selhurst Park as the international break draws to a close. The Gunners are fourth in the Premier League, three points above rivals Tottenham with a game in hand, and need to try and keep up the momentum they have from winning six of their last seven matches.
Arsenal’s hopes of winning in south London could be dented by injury woes, however, with Ramsdale and Tomiyasu doubts for the game. Neither player was involved in their country’s games over the international break and face a race to be fit for Monday’s 8pm kick-off.
Ramsdale was forced to withdraw from the squad for England’s friendlies against Switzerland and Cote d’Ivoire due to a hip injury. The 23-year-old goalkeeper picked up the injury in the 2-0 defeat by Liverpool on March 16 and subsequently sat out of the 1-0 win over Aston Villa.
Bernd Leno deputised in that game at Villa Park and could be needed to make his fifth league start of the season on Monday. Ramsdale has been working hard on his recovery during the break, but has not fully overcome the injury. "Aaron it’s a doubt," Arteta said in a press conference on Thursday. "He hasn’t trained yet so we don’t know what he’ll be able to do on Monday."
Tomiyasu was not selected by Japan’s World Cup qualifiers over the international break due to a long-running calf injury. He has been out of the side since playing 90 minutes in the 2-0 defeat by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on January 20, but could return to the squad for the Palace game.
"I think he will be close. He’s been training more and more," Arteta said. "He will be joining some sessions this week so let’s see how it is. He had a recurring injury but in the other calf which was strange and difficult to predict. He’s been through a lot in the last two years with the amount of games he’s played and Covid. Hopefully we can find the reason so it doesn’t happen again."
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Tomiyasu was left out of Arsenal’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Brentford B at their London Colney training ground earlier this week. The Gunners won the match 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Alexandre Lacazette, with Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares, Charlie Patino and Eddie Nketiah all playing in a team dominated by youngsters.
In Tomiyasu’s absence, Cedric Soares is likely to continue at right-back. Arsenal are optimistic over Bukayo Saka, who could be involved against Palace after withdrawing from England duty with Covid-19. Saka is "feeling good", according to Arteta and will train with the squad on Thursday.
Emile Smith Rowe missed England's 2-1 win over Switzerland on Saturday due to a minor injury, but has since returned to full fitness. He came off the bench as a second-half substitute in the Three Lions’ 3-0 win over Cote d’Ivoire at Wembley on Tuesday night.
