When you’re winding down an international break, it’s never too early to look ahead to the next weekend’s slate of action. And with Arsenal, there are a large number of injury/fitness concerns. Although, to be fair, many of them are just precautionary. We’ll cover Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke here in part one. And then in part two, we’ll get to William Saliba, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Magalhaes, Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard. So without further ado, let’s dive straight in!
FA Cup Quarterfinals FYIs
Arsenal at Southampton
Kickoff: Sat. April 4, 8pm, St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, UK
Arsenal Fitness Content: Team News Part 1 Team News Part 2 Injury List
How They Got Here
Arsenal: Portsmouth 4-1, Wigan Athletic 4-0, Mansfield Town 2-1,
Southampton: Doncaster 3-2, Leicester City 2-1, Fulham 1-0
Arsenal Team News
Let’s start with the duo of English stars, Rice and Saka. Both were desperate to play in the friendly against Japan, but England manager Thomas Tuchel held them out as a precaution.
“If it was the last game of the season, we would have kept them, but in this moment, it did not make sense,” Tuchel said of Rice and Saka. “The risk was way too big. They were both clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessment. It made absolutely no sense that they stayed.”
So both players should be in the squad for Saturday, and they’ll face late fitness tests in order to feature. Also withdrawing from the England squad is Noni Madueke, who suffered a knee injury while on international duty with Three Lions. He’s set for a spell on the sidelines. Tuchel expressed concern.
“I’m worried,” Tuchel said three days ago. “Of course, because I think he was a difference-maker today.
“He started well, he was full of energy, he was ready to go. And I think against a team like Uruguay, who relies on one-against-ones, he could have been a key player for us…Very sad and upset and hopefully it’s not a big injury.”
Moving on to Hincapie, the Ecuadorian Football Federation released a statement indicating that he “underwent medical and imaging tests” and that the evaluation led to his being “withdrawn from the squad.”
Hincapie suffered an unspecified injury during Ecuador’s 1-1 draw against Morocco on Friday night. He played 72 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano before needing to get subbed off.
And then finally, with Zubimendi, he withdrewnfrom the Spanish national team due to “discomfort in his right knee.”
The statement added that: “To avoid any risk and to protect the player’s health, he has been removed from the squad. Arsenal have been informed of the situation.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG, Ratings and SportsBoom. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.