Huge blow: Arsenal hit by another injury setback ahead of AVFC, Arteta surely gutted - opinion

Arsenal received a rare blip in their bid to earn a top-four spot and qualify for next season’s Champions League when they lost to Liverpool on Wednesday evening.

The Gunners played some exceptional football, largely keeping the Merseyside outfit at bay until some sloppy defensive work cost them dearly in the second half.

Mikel Arteta has put a great deal of time and effort into improving the Arsenal defence so it will have come as a huge source of frustration for the Spaniard that his side lost as they did.

The Londoners now face Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime after a small recovery window, but they have been dealt a fresh setback as they look to overcome the Villans.

Arsenal have been without Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu for the best part of two months and sadly, it looks as though he will miss this weekend’s clash too.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta seemed hopeful that he might return, saying:

“There is a chance, but we don’t know, again today [Friday] in training we will see how he’s feeling.”

News has since emerged that he may not have come through training too well. According to AFC News Room founder, Connor Humm, he will miss the clash.

He took to Twitter to reveal the following: “No Takehiro Tomiyasu in the squad to face Aston Villa as far as I’m aware.

Cedric has rarely put a foot wrong since covering for Tomiyasu over the last few months, with his form subsequently earning a call-up to the Portugal squad for the latest round of international fixtures.

Indeed, the former Southampton full-back has recorded a SofaScore match rating below a 6.8 on one occasion since he became a regular in the starting XI at the beginning of February.

Even against Liverpool in midweek he dealt with Luis