Injury expert issues ‘massive’ Tomiyasu claim after Arsenal latest
Arsenal star Takehiro Tomiyasu is fatigued from running “massive” distances for Arsenal – he needs a rest as soon as possible.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
The in-form Tomiyasu was replaced by Cedric Soares in the Gunners’ 4-1 win over Leeds United last Friday (18 December).
As quoted by The Mirror the following day, manager Mikel Arteta revealed the 23-year-old defender is struggling with an unspecified “muscle injury”.
The Japanese international, a summer signing from Bologna, had played 90 minutes in 13 consecutive games until being forced off against Leeds.
Dinnery claims that Arteta should not risk the fatigued Tomiyasu in the League Cup quarter-final against Sunderland tonight (21 December).
“Fatigue is always going to be an issue when you’re playing so many minutes,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Let’s not forget he’s brand new into the league. He is still adapting to the rigours of playing at this level, at this velocity.
“The Premier League is unlike many others in terms of the number of high-intensity sprints that are required, the number of one-on-one duels.
“He is more of a marauding wing-back than a conventional full-back and is covering massive distances.
“The fact that it was flagged to Mikel Arteta is testament to the player himself. Arteta wasn’t sure he could see the game out.
“Hopefully, it was just a precautionary measure and he was caught before any serious strain or tear could occur.
“Maybe there are question marks with regards to his involvement in the Carabao Cup.
“You’d hope common sense will prevail and he misses this one and returns in game week 19.”
Arsenal were forced to carry out a deep clean of their training base recently after a spate of Covid cases among staff.
The Gunners are on an impressive run of form and up to 4th in the league table.
In other news, pundit argues Nuno Tavares “deal could come off” after Arsenal transfer update from broadcaster.