Updates on the fitness of a pair of Arsenal defenders have been provided late on Thursday evening.
The Gunners, of course, were back in action a short time ago.
As part of the final round of Europa League group stage fixtures of the campaign, Mikel Arteta’s troops welcomed Swiss outfit FC Zurich to north London.
Arsenal were aware ahead of kick-off that a win was a must, in their bid to hold PSV at bay in 2nd, and advance to the knockout rounds as Group A winners.
And, when all was said and done, emerge triumphant, to their credit, is precisely what the evening’s hosts went on to do.
Despite looking some way short of their best, a solitary strike from Kieran Tierney ultimately proved enough to put Zurich to the sword by a goal to nil:
Arsenal LEAD! 💥
Fantastic technique from Kieran Tierney on the half-volley 🙌
Look at what it means to him, look at what it means to the team! 🤗 #UEL pic.twitter.com/C4vPfP0Vd2
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 3, 2022
This came as, first, Takehiro Tomiyasu, after being introduced off the bench for Ben White, was forced to make way just fifteen minutes later owing to a fresh injury concern.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Mikel Arteta was therefore drawn on the Japanese international’s wellbeing, with the Qatar World Cup, of course, just around the corner.
Arsenal’s boss, though, was unable to provide much of an insight into the situation as of yet, instead opting to shift focus towards his side’s upcoming showdown with capital rivals Chelsea:
I asked about Tomiyasu injury:
“He felt something.”
On the injury: “We don’t know yet.”
Asked on World Cup hopes:
“We have Chelsea at the weekend, that’s my focus.”https://t.co/f5b81ncE0K
— Tom Canton (@TomCantonMedia) November 3, 2022
Also sparking concern amongst the Gunners’ defensive ranks on Thursday, meanwhile, was Kieran Tierney.
This came as, amid his match-winning display, the Scottish standout took a heavy late blow to the ankle.
Tierney, though, was quick to allay any fears surrounding a potential upcoming spell on the sidelines, in explaining:
“I’m all good. I have no problems, I took a sore one on the ankle but it’s fine. We wanted to get the game done by 60 or 70 minutes, score a couple of goals..”
*Update* – Arteta has since added the following regarding Tomiyasu:
“Obviously he felt something & we didn’t want to take any risks. With the amount of games we are playing, it’s part of [it]. It can happen in training, it can happen in games & unfortunately it happened to Tomi.”
Mikel Arteta on Tomiyasu’s injury: “Obviously he felt something & we didn’t want to take any risks. With the amount of games we are playing, it’s part of [it]. It can happen in training, it can happen in games & unfortunately it happened to Tomi.” #afc pic.twitter.com/YOWUV8whMQ
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) November 3, 2022
Official: Timo Werner becomes latest star to miss Qatar World Cup
