Arsenal will look for an immediate return to winning ways in the Premier League this weekend following Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, as they missed the opportunity to extend their lead in the top four to four points.
But a positive for Mikel Arteta is that the Gunners managed to come away unscathed from their heavyweight clash with the Reds, leaving the Spaniard with plenty of options ahead of Saturday’s trip to face Aston Villa, with three points an absolute must. However, despite having virtually all of their players available, Arsenal have one injury concern in the form of defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is fighting a race against time to be fit in time for the trip to Villa Park.
Tomiyasu’s unavailability continued against Jurgen Klopp’s side on Wednesday and it now means that the defender has not featured for the Gunners since the New Year’s Day defeat to Manchester City. The Japanese international recovered from his initial thigh problem to feature in the squad against Brentford on February 19, albeit as an unused substitute, before picking up an injury in his other leg shortly afterwards to put him back out of action.
