Arsenal supporters have taken to social media after 'spotting' what they believe to be a clue ahead of the Premier League clash against West Ham United as Mikel Arteta's side make the short journey to the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners will be hoping to take another step towards winning the top-four battle over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, with the Spaniard no doubt keen to build upon the momentum of winning back-to-back games against Chelsea and the Reds Devils.
Fortunately for the Arsenal manager, he has a near full-strength squad to choose from ahead of the London derby as in-form Bukayo Saka is expected to be fine to keep his place in the starting line-up despite limping out in the second half against Man United last weekend.
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Another player hoping to retain a starting berth is Cedric Soares. Although, that might be easier said than done following the return to fitness of Takehiro Tomiyasu after three months out of action with an ongoing calf injury. Arteta was asked if the Japan international was ready to start against the Hammers during a pre-match press conference and he wasn't giving too much away.
"You only know that when a player's been out for a long spell when you put him on the pitch," the Spaniard responded. "He hasn’t started any matches yet. He's lacked a bit of time on the pitch so it’s a decision we will make tomorrow."
However, two Arsenal supporters, in particular, are convinced that a decision regarding Tomiyasu's return has already been made. As 'spotted' and discussed on Reddit and Twitter, Saka's decision to transfer Cedric out of his Fantasy Premier League team has brought about the same conclusion amongst the fanbase.
tophthemelonlordd said: "Tomi starting [tomorrow]" and @mxheekm said: "Tomi’s starting."
With that said, there is a theory that Tomiyasu could get the nod at left-back instead of Nuno Tavares against West Ham after his ambidexterity was praised by Arteta.
"Well, when we follow the player and we identify him as one of the candidates, obviously it one of the things that I came across and it gives you a lot of solutions," the Arsenal manager revealed. "Not only because he can use both feet, but he can play right centre-back, left centre-back, he can play left-back so that gives you enormous variability and it’s the way they’ve been raised and coached since a really young age, that’s what he says so for him, left and right is the same."
