Mikel Arteta reveals Bukayo Saka will not be available for England fixtures | Football

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Saka missed the 1-0 win over Man City on Sunday (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka will not be involved in England’s upcoming internationals against Australia and Italy.

Saka, 22, was forced off before half-time in Arsenal’s defeat to Lens in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

As a result, the winger missed Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City, left out of the squad completely.

England take on Australia on 13 October before a European Championship qualifier against Italy four days later.

Saka will not feature in either game with Mikel Arteta confirming his withdrawal on Sunday night.

‘No, he couldn’t make it,’ Arteta said in post-match press conference.

‘He hasn’t had a single training session so he will be out. He’s not available to play football at the moment.’

FBL-ENG-PR-ARSENAL-MAN CITY

Arsenal finally ended their run without a win against City (Picture: Getty)

Saka’s absence on Sunday ended a run of 87 consecutive top flight appearances.

Another Arsenal star in William Saliba will remain in north London during the international break with France confirming the defender has withdrawn from their squad.

Saliba played the full 90 minutes against City, turning in an excellent display up against Erling Haaland.

Shortly after full-time, the French Football Federation confirmed he will miss games against Netherlands and Scotland due to a toe injury. Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo has been called into replace him.

Victory for Arsenal moves them joint top of the Premier League alongside neighbours Tottenham.

‘The players have to stand up there and execute against players that are top quality, and we give them something in the first two minutes with the corner and they almost score a goal, you can not give them anything,’ Arteta said.

‘They can still earn it because they are top quality and can produce those moments in any moment.

‘We have discussed a lot about that, it is stressful because they change constantly, the spaces, rotations, they are constantly threatening you in certain areas and you have to be really really aware of what they are doing to try to match it up, and with the ball as well, because they are provoking you with certain things and you have to be patient and for that bit today was top because I knew the crowd could react in the way that it did.

‘It’s what we demanded to do and what we needed to do and we did it better in the second half, we did it much better and I think it was really helpful.’


MORE : Arsenal defender William Saliba withdraws from France squad with ‘chronic’ toe injury


MORE : ‘They have big ones’ – Mikel Arteta hails bravery of David Raya and Gabriel Martinelli after Arsenal secure huge win over Man City

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