Mikel Arteta has revealed that Oleksandr Zinchenko missed Arsenal's game against Liverpool after suffering a muscle injury.
The Ukrainian has been a mainstay in the Gunners side since joining from Manchester City in the summer, with Zinchenko keeping Kieran Tierney out of the XI. He has been superb in the process, with Zinchenko also grabbing one assist in their opening day win at Crystal Palace.
However, Zinchenko has been struggling with injuries of late and missed two matches in August against Fulham and Aston Villa because of a knee issue. He also sat out of the 3-0 victory at Brentford due to a calf problem, and Zinchenko has now picked up a reoccurrence of that injury, meaning he missed their crucial clash with the Reds.
In his pre-match interview, Arteta told Sky Sports: "He had again another muscle injury and we'll see how it is in the next few days."
With Zinchenko ruled out, all eyes surely would've been on Tierney to see how he would cope in his absence. But Arteta has decided to go down a different route and hand Takehiro Tomiyasu his first Premier League start of the season.
The Japan international has played in all but one of their league matches so far this term after recovering from a long-term problem that kept him out for the majority of pre-season. Tomiyasu has averaged just over 10 minutes per-appearance, however, but has started their two Europa League games against FC Zurich and Bodo/Glimt.
When explaining why he chose Tomiyasu over Tierney, Arteta added: "We have some opportunities in that position and we've decided to go with him." Tierney has deputised for Zinchenko in the three league matches the latter missed earlier in the season, but Arteta decided to start with Tomiyasu at left-back.
It means the Gunners' defence is effectively four centre-backs, with Ben White lining up at right-back and William Saliba and Gabriel in central defence. Cedric, who has played at left-back under Arteta before, has also been left on the bench with Tierney.
Saliba, like Zinchenko, has impressed in an Arsenal shirt since making his Gunners debut at Palace back in August. The 21-year-old could be in line to sign a new contract after an excellent start to the campaign following a superb loan spell at Marseille last term, where he won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.
Speaking about how close Saliba is to signing a new deal, Arteta added: "I don’t know. That’s something that Edu & the club are managing. Obviously they know my input & we always work together on that. Whenever they are ready to do that, we will announce it."
