Rice withdrawal explained as Arsenal defender faces November return

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Declan Rice has withdrawn from the England squad during the extended international break, with Arsenal carrying several fitness concerns into the pause following Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Brighton.

That loss at the Amex ended Arsenal's unbeaten start to the campaign under Mikel Arteta, and the Gunners have since surrendered top spot in the Premier League after Manchester City beat Sunderland on Sunday.

Rice withdrawal explained

Rice played the full 90 minutes at Brighton before pulling out of Thomas Tuchel's squad. The midfielder had been managing a neural hamstring issue throughout the World Cup, but football.london understands the withdrawal is down to load management rather than a specific injury.

The same report indicates Rice could be available again around October 10, giving him three weeks to build his fitness back up without the demands of international football.

Ben White is also absent from the England picture. Arteta had said ahead of the Brighton trip that "Ben is all good" and that he was "positive" about another training session, but the defender missed the fixture entirely and was left out of Tuchel's squad.

"Ben pulled out with an injury, he had a fantastic start to the season and was back to his very best on the side as a pair with Bukayo Saka which could be very valuable for us to have two players on the side," Tuchel said.

"But unfortunately he wasn't available for the World Cup and is not available now. It is unfortunately a little bit of a story with Ben that in the decisive moments or in the moments where we do the call-ups he is not available."

Defensive picture

Cristhian Mosquera is another being managed carefully. Speaking before the Brighton game, Arteta grouped the Spaniard alongside Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie as players the staff were working on.

"Yes, we have another session; they are all willing to be part of it," Arteta said. "We have another session to try to make sure they are fit."

Timber went on to start at the Amex, while Hincapie was named among the substitutes despite being left out of his international squad. Mosquera, like Rice and White, is expected back around October 10 according to football.london.

The longest wait belongs to William Saliba. The centre-back has been a long-term absentee since suffering a back problem at the World Cup, and Arteta has consistently avoided putting a firm date on his comeback.

"We don't really know the amount of weeks Wilo is going to be out because it's about a healing process and everything is a bit different — we know we have to respect certain timings," the Arsenal boss said earlier this month.

"The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that one reacts when we start to put some load into it."

football.london pencils in November 21 as Saliba's likely return date, meaning Arteta will need to navigate a significant chunk of the schedule without his first-choice centre-half.

The extended break at least buys Arsenal time. With four of the five concerns pointing towards the same October 10 marker, the Gunners could emerge from the pause looking closer to full strength than they did at Brighton.