Arsenal duo Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ezri Konsa will both be unavailable to face Croatia with England on Thursday, for different reasons.
Arsenal received five England call-ups for the November international break, but only three of those players are available to face Croatia in Thursday’s Nations League match at Wembley.
Though Myles Lewis-Skelly is fully fit, he won’t be able to play the Croatia game, as he’s serving a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
In the Nations League, a player is suspended for the next match after receiving two yellow cards in different games, and again after every subsequent set of two yellows.
These bookings are only wiped on completion of the quarter-finals, or at the end of a team’s involvement in the competition.
Lewis-Skelly was booked in both the away game and the home game against Czechia, so he must now serve a one-match ban. He’ll then be eligible to return against Spain.
On top of Lewis-Skelly’s absence, England have already confirmed that Ezri Konsa won’t be involved. Konsa is being rested as he manages his recent injury setbacks, and he’s currently on an individualised training programme for the break.
“Konsa and Spence are both out for tomorrow [against Croatia],” Tuchel confirmed on Wednesday (via James Olley). “The understanding, the hope and the belief is they are both in individual training on Friday, team training on Saturday and match ready [for Spain] on Sunday.”
Arsenal will still have three players set for involvement in the England squad against Croatia, with Ben White, Declan Rice, and Eberechi Eze all having been called up.
England sit second in the group standings after four games, needing just one more point to guarantee progression to the quarter-finals.
If they want to win the group, they have to gain three points on leaders Spain, which would likely require beating Croatia and Spain themselves. They do have a significant four-goal advantage over Spain on goal difference, so those two results would likely be enough regardless of the scorelines.
- 2 Arsenal players will miss England-Croatia clashArsenal duo Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ezri Konsa will both be unavailable to face Croatia with England on Thursday, for different reasons.
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