Arsenal’s ‘White knight’ ready to step up amid Takehiro Tomiyasu injury problem

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, but in Benjamin White, the Gunners have a stellar right-back who will be forced to see out the remainder of the campaign.

After being withdrawn early in the first half of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Sporting CP, many feared the worst for Tomiyasu.

Well, those fears have been realised as the club confirmed that the Japanese international will miss the remainder of the season.

It’s a bitter blow for Arsenal as Tomiyasu was a valuable backup to White. But now, the Englishman will need to shoulder the load for the rest of the domestic campaign.

Arsenal’s ‘White Knight’ ready to step up amid Takehiro Tomiyasu injury problem

While the injury to Tomiyasu isn’t ideal, there is a sense that Arsenal are somewhat “lucky” that they are out of Europe and, instead, only have ten games to navigate.

In Ben White, the Gunners can feel more than comfortable about the right-back position. His form has been superb this season, and his efforts against Crystal Palace at the weekend further highlighted his sensational season.

However, it is also worth noting that White is the only right-back in the Gunners squad. That puts the team in a precarious position should something happen to the Englishman.

Thomas Partey was deployed at right-back for the closing stages against Palace, but that is hardly an ideal solution should anything happen to White given the Ghanaian’s importance in midfield.

With just ten games remaining, White will need to continue as he has all season and play superb football as Arsenal look for that elusive Premier League title.

But there is a sense of nervousness with Tomiyasu and William Saliba going down in the most critical part of the season. So much good work has gone on before, the club wouldn’t like all that wasted over a couple of injuries.

It ruined Arsenal’s top-four bid last campaign as Mohamed Elneny was forced to play the remaining fixtures due to Partey’s injuries, and we do not want to see a repeat of that this campaign.

Thankfully, there’s a ‘White knight’ who Arteta has called on so many times this year and he has performed well… he just has one more stretch to navigate.