Arsenal have been backed after Noni Madueke was brutally left out of Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad. There had been growing expectations that the winger would feature, particularly with club-mate Bukayo Saka sidelined with a quad injury.
However, despite his recent promising form, Madueke was not listed. However, Fulham’s Josh King and Borussia Dortmund’s Job Bellingham won.
Madueke scored in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Slavia Prague on Tuesday. He also scored in a recent 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
Tuchel is expected to explain his decision shortly, but Madueke was a key part of the World Cup squad over the summer, starting four games en route to the semi-finals.
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He also missed the final camp, sitting out the Nations League games against Spain, the Czech Republic (twice) and Croatia, using his inactivity with Arsenal as motivation.
Madueke has three goals and one assist in his last eight games for the Premier League champions.
Meanwhile, Declan Rice is back in the England team. He quit last month due to load management and opted to rest instead.
Since then he has stood out for Arsenal and even started against Slavia despite heavy rotation. Mikel Arteta later said of his decision to play Rice: “Well, the game called for it and he did it. Rested against Fleetwood too.
“So he’s had a really good week to recover. This is the second game I’ve played, not the fifth. So we’re expecting our players to be able to do that. I think he’s had some really good moments.”
Rice battled hamstring pain at the World Cup over the summer and needed injections to perform. Again, he was ready to start the campaign with the Gunners after a short rest, but there will now be concerns that he is still playing a lot of football.
It was only a few weeks ago that we saw Rice clutching his right hamstring during the 2-0 win over Everton. While he can’t continue to miss England camps, he needs to be protected to stay fit again this season.
Ben White has also returned to the England team. He bounced back in March when he scored and converted a penalty against Uruguay, but then missed the World Cup after picking up a knee injury.
Ezri Konsa, Eberechi Eze and Myles Lewis-Skelly are all included.