Takehiro Tomiysau injury update | OneFootball

Takehiro Tomiyasu has pulled out of international duty with Japan due to an injury, forcing him to miss Sunday’s game against Burnley as well.

Dan Orlowitz of The Japan Times reported that Takehiro Tomiyasu is out of Japan’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers with an injury. Shinnosuke Nakatani is replacing the Arsenal defender in the squad.

Before the qualifiers, Arsenal still have a game against Burnley to worry about, and it seems Tomiyasu is set to miss that game too.

The problem is a tight calf which should be just enough to get him a rest over the international break but not cause any problems when football returns.

There were already suspicions that Tomiyasu was still struggling with his previous injury, after fans spotted his absence from training photos following the Liverpool game.

After the game, Artta confirmed Tomiyasu would be be out for a ‘few weeks.

“Tomi had an injury and we didn’t have anybody to play in that position against Liverpool,” Arteta said.

“He needs to recover and look after himself, to try and be available as quick as he can. He will be out for a few weeks.”

Even before that, Mikel Arteta had confirmed that Arsenal had pushed the right-back to return from injury earlier than hoped, given their lack of alternatives in the position.

“We didn’t want to play him, we had to push him because Cedric and Calum were out and we didn’t have any full-backs,” Arteta said after the game.

“The moment that he knew that, he said that he would play. He didn’t have any training sessions with us, and still was willing to play and compete the way he has done today.”

The good news is that Calum Chambers has since returned to training, so he should be available to fill in for Tomiyasu.

It’s a real shame Tomiyasu won’t be able to play the next few games, as he’s been a real positive for Arsenal this season and Japan rely on him too.

Japan are set to play China on Thursday, 27th January at 10:00 GMT, and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, 1st February at 10:10 GMT.

Both matches are World Cup qualifiers, as they push to qualify for this year’s tournament.

There are two automatic qualification spots in their group, plus one play-off spot, and Japan currently sit in second – just one point ahead of Australia and four points behind Saudi Arabia in the top spot. So these are crucial games.

If Tomiyasu could play them, I’m sure he would, so the injury must be more than a knock. At least he has a few weeks to recover now.