Arsenal dealt injury blow ahead of Aston Villa clash

Arsenal look set to be without right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu for their game against Aston Villa tomorrow (19 March).

The Gunners will travel to Birmingham with an almost fully fit squad, with only Tomiyasu expected to be unavailable.

The Japanese international has been out injured since mid-January due to a calf injury and he hasn’t been included in his national team’s squad for their upcoming fixtures.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta would have been hoping to have the versatile defender available for selection by now, but the Spaniard said Tomiyasu will be assessed before tomorrow’s game.

“No news, yesterday we recovered after the game and today we will have the first session and we will see how everyone is today,” Arteta said.

“There is a chance but we don’t know, again the training session today and we will see how everyone is feeling.

“He had a recurring injury in the same place and after that you have to be a little bit more cautious.”

Villa could be without Calum Chambers and Douglas Luiz for tomorrow’s game, after the pair both suffered facial injuries during the 2-1 loss at West Ham last week.

Lucas Digne was also taken off during the defeat with a hamstring injury, and he will be assessed before the match.

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