Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta delivers a negative update on the fitness of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice following their early withdrawals against Chelsea.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had no good news to share when asked for an update on the conditions of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka following Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Chelsea.
Neither man was able to make it through the full 90 minutes of the tie at Stamford Bridge, where Rice was making his return after a week on the sidelines with a foot injury, thought to be a broken toe.
The former West Ham United man comprised part of a full-strength Arsenal team in West London, where Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz also made the first XI following their recent concerns.
Saka struggled to get much change out of Marc Cucurella on the right-hand side, though, and he eventually had to come off late in the second half after being brought down by the Spaniard.
Ten minutes before Saka ceded his place on the field to Leandro Trossard, Rice was one of the first Arsenal players to leave the field, being swapped out for Mikel Merino on the 71-minute mark.
Arteta hints that Saka, Rice will withdraw from England duty
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The 25-year-old did not appear to be struggling during the game, but his substitution was seemingly enforced, and both withdrawals will also come as a concern to England head coach Lee Carsley.
Rice and Saka would have been expected to play major parts in England’s UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland this month, but Arteta has suggested that the pair will not be able to represent their nation.
“It doesn’t look good because two players of that importance tell you that they cannot continue in the game, so it obviously isn’t good news,” the Arsenal boss said at his post-game press conference. “I don’t expect them to be fit (for the international break) because if they were, they wouldn’t have come off.”
Whether Saka or Rice are able to join up with the England squad remains to be seen, but there is every chance that they will report to St George’s Park for further assessment before a decision is made.
Despite being able to put out almost all of their big-hitters in West London – only missing Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney – Arsenal saw their Premier League winless streak stretch to four matches, as Pedro Neto cancelled out Gabriel Martinelli‘s opener.
Arteta “praying” for injury-free international break after “absolute nightmare”
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The Gunners are now nine points behind Liverpool in fourth place in the Premier League table, and Arteta has admitted that he is “praying” for his side to get through the international break unscathed after an “absolute nightmare” period.
“What I am just praying is that after the international break I have the team fully equipped physically, they are available and they are fit because it has been an absolute nightmare for eight weeks,” Arteta told journalists.
“Issue after issue, not only the ones that are not able to play, but the ones that are able to play only for certain moments, only for certain days, not able to train.
“So I’m just asking that because the team, the desire that they have and how much we want it, there’s no question about that. So, it’s going to come, we just need that on our side to be able to be more consistent.”
Arsenal’s first game back after the international break comes at home to Nottingham Forest on November 23, three days before they meet Sporting Lisbon in their fifth Champions League game of the season.
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