Takehiro Tomiyasu’s concern during the match against Burnley was due to an issue with his eye, according to Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu was taken off early in the Champions League match against Sevilla last Wednesday, initially looking to be a doubt to return against Burnley at the weekend.

In the end, with Ben White ruled out through injury, it was fortunate that Tomiyasu was fit to start the Burnley clash.

Tomiyasu has had plenty of injury problems since joining Arsenal, so despite his return to the team, there remained some concerns about whether he was dealing with another setback when he was noticeably uncomfortable during the Burnley game.

After the game, Mikel Arteta confirmed that the problem was actually only with Tomiyasu’s contact lenses.

“Only his eye, his contact lens,” Arteta said. “He had a problem with his lens but the rest, he was top. Really good performance, Tomiyasu.”

You’d hope that a contact lens issue would be a fairly straightforward one to address ahead of the next Arsenal game.

In the meantime, Tomiyasu is away on international duty with Japan. The defender has received another call-up by his country, for whom he usually plays at centre-back.

Japan face Myanmar on Thursday, November 16th at 10:02 GMT, before taking on Syria on Tuesday, November 21st at 14:45 GMT.

Both matches are qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, and Japan will be looking to get off to a winning start to the qualification process.