Arsenal defender remains absent ahead of Sporting game

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu remains absent ahead of the Champions League clash against Sporting Lisbon away from home tomorrow.

The Japan international missed the entire pre-season with a knee injury. He made his return against Southampton, but suffered another recurrence in his cameo appearance.

Tomiyasu has not trained fully with the team for a number of weeks. He has started working with the physios, but manager Mikel Arteta is prepared to handle him with caution.

Hence, there are no surprises that he has not been involved. Arsenal are still positive over his recovery progress and the versatile defender could be back in the squad next month.

Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League with 22 points. They will be in Champions League action against high-flying Sporting CP on the road on Tuesday night.

It promises to be an entertaining encounter as both teams prefer to play an attacking brand of football. Sporting are unbeaten since their first league game of the campaign.