Takehiro Tomiyasu reminds us of his quality in Mohamed Salah battle

Takehiro Tomiyasu was named to start at left-back for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta wanted to curtail Mo Salah, with the Japanese full-back shutting out the Egyptian with ease.

When the team news dropped before Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool and fans saw no Oleksandr Zinchenko or Kieran Tierney but rather Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back, questions were being asked.

Zinchenko is still dealing with a muscle injury, which usually would have meant that Tierney would get the start.

Takehiro Tomiyasu reminds us of his quality in Mohamed Salah battle

The rationale behind Tomiyasu’s inclusion soon became evident: to keep tabs on Salah. The Egyptian has a knack for scoring goals against Arsenal and often toys with our defence. Mikel Arteta did not want that to happen again.

To say that Tomiyasu dominated the battle would be an understatement; he won it by miles. While Liverpool and Salah are still formidable opponents, their form throughout the season hasn’t been the best.

Still, with that being said, if afforded time and space, Salah make any side pay. Against Arsenal, he barely got a chance to do anything.

Tomiyasu stuck to his task exceptionally well. He was strong in the contest, wasn’t afraid of the physical challenges, stopped numerous Liverpool forays forward down his flank, and, most importantly, when Salah had the ball in a one-vs-one, he more than held his own.

The 23-year-old produced his best performance in an Arsenal shirt, and the whole football world took notice.

With Ben White occupying his normal right-back role, the Japanese international has had to be content with a place on the bench for league games so far this season. His only starts have arrived in the Europa League, but that might have to change moving forward.

Such was his performance on Sunday; Tomiyasu rendered one of the best players in the world useless for 69 minutes before Salah was oddly withdrawn by Jurgen Klopp.

Tomiyasu didn’t give Salah a moment’s peace and often broke up Liverpool attacks down his flank with ease in the first half. After a performance that was as dominating as it was, it does leave the question at Arteta’s feet as to where he goes from here with the 23-year-old.

Even if he is relegated back to the bench, Tomiyasu has proved many doubters wrong. I can still hear all the laughter and snide comments when it was first announced the club was interested in him.

Who’s laughing now? That would be Tomiyasu after pocketing one of the most dangerous attackers in world football.