Concern for Man United & Arsenal as Rashford and Saka return from international duty
England have released a statement this evening, confirming that a pair of stars have been forced to depart the country’s camp due to injury.
San Marino drubbing
Gareth Southgate’s men of course got their World Cup qualifying campaign underway on Thursday night.
The Three Lions’ long road to Qatar opened with an altogether straightforward assignment, in putting San Marino to the sword at Wembley.
In turn, it came as little surprise when England managed exactly that, adding a positive early look to the nation’s goal difference column in the process.
James Ward-Prowse, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (2), Raheem Sterling and debutant Ollie Watkins were all on target, en route to a comfortable 5-0 win.
What a moment 😍pic.twitter.com/oHDCqud9vW
— England (@England) March 25, 2021
Concern for Arsenal & Man United
The action, though, will continue to come thick and fast for Southgate and co. over the days ahead.
First comes a trip to Tirana to face Albania on Sunday evening, before the Three Lions round out their latest set of fixtures in a testing meeting with Poland 3 days later.
As such, Southgate will no doubt be keen to have as many players as possible fit and at his disposal, ahead of an important week for England.
But, as outlined above, on Friday, two such options have been ruled out of contention.
The players in question? Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka.
Both missed last night’s win over San Marino, with respective fitness issues.
And, as confirmed in an official statement a short time ago, neither has since managed to recover, forcing Manchester United and Arsenal to call their attacking stars home to recommence treatment:
Rashford reported to St. George’s Park with an injury that ruled him out of the 5-0 win against San Marino and, following further assessment, it has been decided he will continue his rehabilitation with Manchester United.
Saka had remained at Arsenal for further assessment on an ongoing issue with the hope of joining up with the Three Lions but will now not be available for the fixtures against Albania and Poland.
Get well soon, @MarcusRashford and @BukayoSaka87 💪
— England (@England) March 26, 2021
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 30 | 43 | 71 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 29 | 24 | 57 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 29 | 21 | 56 |
| 4 | Chelsea FC | 29 | 19 | 51 |
| 5 | West Ham United FC | 29 | 10 | 49 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 29 | 19 | 48 |
| 7 | Liverpool FC | 29 | 12 | 46 |
| 8 | Everton FC | 28 | 3 | 46 |
| 9 | Arsenal FC | 29 | 8 | 42 |
| 10 | Aston Villa FC | 28 | 9 | 41 |
| 11 | Leeds United | 29 | -2 | 39 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace FC | 29 | -16 | 37 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 29 | -10 | 35 |
| 14 | Southampton FC | 29 | -15 | 33 |
| 15 | Burnley FC | 29 | -15 | 33 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 29 | -4 | 32 |
| 17 | Newcastle United FC | 29 | -20 | 28 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 30 | -15 | 26 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 29 | -37 | 18 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 29 | -34 | 14 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 17 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 17 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 16 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 14 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 14 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 12 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 11 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 9 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 9 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 9 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 9 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 8 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 8 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 8 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 8 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 7 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 7 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 8 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 6 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 7 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 6 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 0 | 6 |
| Klich, Mateusz | Leeds United | 0 | 6 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 6 |
| Hojbjerg, Pierre | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 0 | 6 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 10 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 10 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 7 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Gross, Pascal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 5 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 5 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 5 |
| Foden, Phil | Manchester City FC | 5 |
