Bukayo Saka & Declan Rice withdraw from England squad

Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are among the eight players to withdraw from the England squad for their November fixtures.

Lee Carsley oversees the final two matches of his brief tenure over the next week with England needing to claim victories against Ireland and Greece to have a chance of topping their Nations League group which would see them return to League A.

Saka and Rice were both included in the Arsenal team on Sunday as the Gunners drew 1-1 at Chelsea, but neither player finished the contest. Saka limped off with ten minutes remaining following a challenge from Marc Cucurella, while Rice was dealing with a foot injury heading into the game and was a doubt after missing last Wednesday's trip to Inter.

The Arsenal pair were included in Carsley's squad for England's upcoming fixtures ahead of Sunday's London derby, but have since joined Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Aaron Ramsdale, Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, and Jack Grealish in withdrawing.

Bukayo Saka & Declan Rice withdraw from England squad

Mikel Arteta wasn't overly optimistic over the statuses of his two players after his side dropped two more Premier League points at Stamford Bridge: “It doesn’t look good because two players of that importance tell you that they cannot continue, so it obviously isn’t good news."

The Spaniard will be more than content with their respective withdrawals, though, as both players will now spend the international break in north London and attempt to recover in time for Nottingham Forest's visit to the Emirates in two weeks time.

Saka nor Rice were at their best on Sunday with the latter clearly hampered by the reported broken toe he sustained during the 1-0 defeat at Newcastle. Saka has enjoyed a superb start to the 2024/25 season, but he's been subdued in his last three starts with teams making a concerted effort to shun his threat. An improvement in the dynamics down the left flank combined with a qualitative improvement in Gabriel Martinelli's performance levels - let's hope Sunday's goal helps! - and Martin Odegaard's comeback from injury should supply more balance to Arsenal's attacking play and ease the burden on Saka down his flank.

As for Rice, the £105m has performed all season as if he's dealing with a niggle. This breather will do him wonders, and Odegaard's return could see him enjoy a run at the base of Arsenal's midfield after the November break despite the form shown by Thomas Partey this season.

READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS HERE!