Arsenal should be far happier with how the international break went than Manchester City, who will be asking England why they couldn’t act like Portugal.
Pep Guardiola gently warned his Manchester City players to “handle it wisely” when asked about their international break exertions, but Arsenal appear to have taken that message more seriously.
Their squad played a combined 1,142 minutes for their countries over the past week in comparison to the 1,749 minutes put together by Manchester City’s stars, while Arsenal had far more precautionary pull-outs and enter Sunday’s game with fewer injury issues.
Jakub Kiwior did play the most minutes of any player for either club but Mikel Arteta will likely be the happier of the two managers when assessing the post-break fitness of his squad.
England were put to shame ever so slightly in terms of squad management and rotation by Portugal and Belgium, by the way.
John Stones (England)
“We measure everything and the first game for him wasn’t a game that was a high level in terms of the intensity. We have done exactly what Holland did with Virgil van Dijk. What Norway did with Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard starting them again. Holland started Ake again. It only ever seems to fall on us when there is a question around that” – Gareth Southgate, England manager.
Manuel Akanji (Switzerland)
Matheus Nunes (Portugal)
Played 63 minutes in midfield and scored in a 5-2 win over Sweden before withdrawing from the squad ahead of a 2-0 defeat to Slovenia due to a foot injury – so might have missed Cristiano Ronaldo throwing a strop after being told he was past his peak.
Kyle Walker (England)
‘Kyle Walker is a serious doubt for Manchester City’s title clash with Arsenal as the Premier League champions count the cost of the international break. The City captain was forced off with a hamstring problem during the 1-0 friendly defeat against Brazil at Wembley – before John Stones hobbled out of the draw with Belgium after sustaining an ankle injury. Both are set for scans’ – Jack Gaughan and Sami Mokbel, Daily Mail.
Ederson (Brazil)
“He is getting better, hopefully he’ll be ready after the international break. He’ll have two weeks off then, he’ll recover, we’ll see how he feels” – Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager.
Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium)
“We can’t take a risk now and certainly not with Kevin. It is better to give him time to recover well at City and then have him ready for the European Championship. I don’t know if there is a connection to his hamstring injury. Yesterday I spoke to the doctor and Kevin and we decided the risk is too great. It is our responsibility to take into account the player but also the player’s club” – Domenico Tedesco, Belgium manager.
Jack Grealish (England)
Omitted from the England squad due to a groin injury.
Nathan Ake (Netherlands)
Phil Foden (England)
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Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)
Erling Haaland (Norway)
Oscar Bobb (Norway)
Jeremy Doku (Belgium)
Played 45 minutes on the left wing in a 0-0 draw against the Republic of Ireland and 90 on the left wing in a 2-2 draw against England.
Mateo Kovacic (Croatia)
Ruben Dias (Portugal)
“It’s important to work on different concepts, especially because Slovenia has a very similar structure [to Sweden], also with two strikers, so the players who leave are all taken care of. There are another eight players who will arrive at a high level for the second game, with hunger and a lot of energy, I hope” – Roberto Martinez, Belgium manager.
Bernardo Silva (Portugal)
Julian Alvarez (Argentina)
Rodri (Spain)
Played 90 minutes in midfield and scored twice in a 3-3 draw against Brazil after being an unused substitute for a 1-0 defeat to Colombia.
Rico Lewis (England/England U21s)
Gabriel Magalhaes (Brazil)
Withdrew from the Brazil squad with an Achilles injury.
‘It is thought that his withdrawal was just precautionary. The club were in close dialogue with the Brazil camp before withdrawing him’ – Football.London.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan)
Omitted from the Japan squad due to a calf injury.
Thomas Partey (Ghana)
‘Asked to be excused from the game to gain full fitness following recent injuries’ – Ghana statement.
Bukayo Saka (England)
Withdrew from the England squad with a muscle injury
‘Bukayo Saka has left the England camp and returned to his club for continued rehabilitation. The Arsenal forward reported to St George’s Park with an injury and has been unable to participate in training” – England statement.
Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)
Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil)
Withdrew from the Brazil squad due to a foot injury.
“For now, Arsenal are keeping very closed, sort of tight ranks, over what’s going on with Martinelli. The word we got initially after the injury, even when he was on crutches, was that ‘we don’t think it’s too bad, it’s just precautionary’. But you have to think he’s a doubt” – Charles Watts, Arsenal journalist.
Jakub Kiwior (Poland)
Declan Rice (England)
Martin Odegaard (Norway)
Played 86 minutes in midfield in a 2-1 defeat to Czechia and 79 in midfield in a 1-1 draw against Slovakia.
Kai Havertz (Germany)
Leandro Trossard (Belgium)
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine)
Played 76 minutes in midfield in a 2-1 win over Bosnia and 26 as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 win over Iceland.
Jorginho (Italy)
William Saliba (France)
David Raya (Spain)
Played 45 before being substituted at half-time in a 1-0 defeat to Colombia, before being an unused substitute in a 3-3 draw against Brazil.
Benjamin White (England)
Played many minutes of Uno.
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2024-03-29T08:11:03Z dg43tfdfdgfd