Arsenal: 4 players with 2022 World Cup dreams at risk

3. Takehiro Tomiyasu – Japan

Over in the Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, the format is done entirely differently.

The qualification process involves four rounds, with the first two of those rounds doubling as the qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, and then the third round seeing the remaining 12 teams split into two groups of six.

From here the top two teams of each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, with the two third-placed teams advancing to the fourth round where they will take on one another home and away to book their place in the inter-confederation play-offs.

To put it simply, you really want to finish in the top two places in the third round, which Takehiro Tomiyasu’s Japan currently don’t find themselves in. They are third in their group at present, behind Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Three wins and two losses from their opening five matches has not been a great return, with their shock home defeat to Oman back in September still haunting them.

Japan laboured to a 1-0 win over Vietnam last time out, where the Arsenal defender assumed his usual left-sided centre-back slot, and need to find some more rhythm when they take on Oman for their sixth match of the group.

Despite being third, there is still a long way to go for Japan in their qualifying campaign with only half of their matches played, so it’s far from the danger zone just yet.

Fail to beat Oman next though, and the situation could take a turn for the worse.

Oman host Japan at 16:00 (GMT) on Tuesday, November 16

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