Takehiro Tomiyasu hasn’t been named in Japan’s squad for the March international break, suggesting he wouldn’t be available for Arsenal this month while Gabriel was missing from Arsenal’s final training session before their game against Liverpool prompting plenty of speculation.
Japan have some pivotal World Cup qualifiers coming up this month, particularly the opening game against Australia.
If they win, they’ll guarantee finishing above Australia and thus achieve qualification to the final tournament.
If they lose, Japan would be relying on Australia slipping up in the final game or a tricky qualifying play-off run in the summer.
So it’s all to play for, yet Takehiro Tomiyasu was a notable absentee from the Japan squad named this week.
Tomiyasu was on a run of five straight starts for Japan before his injury problems this year, playing at centre-back and keeping three clean sheets in those five games. If he were available, he’d be involved.
The logical conclusion was that the player still won’t be ready by the end of the month, ruling him out of the game against Liverpool tonight.
Speaking ahead of that match, Mikel Arteta confirmed that the Gunners are trying to push Takehiro Tomiyasu to make his comeback, but they’re also being cautious after what happened last time.
“We have been trying to push him, but with the handbrake a little bit because we need to be careful,” Arteta said.
“We don’t know [if Wednesday is too soon]. Let’s see how he trains.”
Tomiyasu initially started struggling with a calf problem around the turn of the year, but he made his return in the League Cup semi-final against the same opponent – Liverpool.
It turned out the right-back had come back too quickly, and he ended up suffering a setback.
When he returned again, on the bench against Brentford in February, he subsequently injured his other calf.
Gabriel, meanwhile, did not feature in Arsenal’s last training session before the game on Wednesday night. Arsenal fans are relieved to see him in the starting lineup.