Karl Hein and Daniel Ballard could be set to face each other in a senior international, despite neither having made a senior appearance for Arsenal.
With the first international break of the season now not far away, various countries have started to announce their squad call-ups.
Those countries include Estonia and Northern Ireland, who have both called up Arsenal u23 players. Estonia have given Karl Hein another call-up, whilst Northern Ireland listed on-loan Arsenal defender Dan Ballard in their squad.
The two countries actually face off against each other during the coming break, playing in Estonia on September 5th. Given both players are pretty regular starters for their countries, it’s very possible they’ll each be involved in the clash.
Hein has made eight appearances for Estonia, keeping a couple of clean sheets and most recently winning the Baltic Cup with them.
Ballard has also made eight appearances for his country, featuring in UEFA Nations League matches and World Cup qualifiers and defending against strikers like Erling Haaland. He may also face Granit Xhaka with Switzerland in the upcoming break.
It’s great to see them both doing so well internationally given their age and inexperience. Below are the fixtures the two players could feature in over the break, with times given in BST.
Northern Ireland fixtures
- Thursday, September 2nd, 19:45 – Lithuania vs Northern Ireland
- Sunday, September 5th, 17:00 – Estonia vs Northern Ireland
- Wednesday, September 8th, 19:45 – Northern Ireland vs Switzerland
Estonia fixtures
- Thursday, September 2nd, 19:45 – Estonia vs Belgium
- Sunday, September 5th, 17:00 – Estonia vs Northern Ireland
- Wednesday, September 8th, 19:45 – Wales vs Estonia