LONDON, April 22 — Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is on track to play his first game since January tomorrow, manager Mikel Arteta said today as his team prepare to host Premier League top-four rivals Manchester United.
Tomiyasu, 23, joined Arsenal from Bologna in August and made 17 appearances in all competitions before being sidelined with a calf injury.
Arsenal boosted their chances of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2015-16 after Wednesday’s win at Chelsea left them in fifth place with 57 points, three ahead of sixth-placed United.
“If Tomiyasu trains today and feels good, he will be available,” Arteta told a news conference today. “Today we are training late because of the turnaround (from Wednesday’s game).”
Arteta said there were no new injury concerns ahead of United’s visit to the Emirates Stadium but added he will make a late assessment on the fitness of captain Alexandre Lacazette.
The forward was a late substitute in the win over Chelsea but missed last week’s game at Southampton due to Covid-19.
“Lacazette trained yesterday and hopefully he will be there today,” Arteta said. “After Covid, we have had players that have struggled for weeks. Hopefully, he can recover quickly.”
Arsenal, who snapped a three-game losing streak with victory over Chelsea, could open up a six-point gap on United with a game in hand should they win on Saturday.
Arteta’s side are level on points with Tottenham Hotspur, who play Brentford later tomorrow.
“I think it’s going to have a lot of twists,” Arteta said. “I am very excited about the option that we have ahead of us. We’re going to give it a go and try our best to reach there.” — Reuters
