The international break is over and Arsenal fans will now turn their attention to Premier League and Champions League matters.
The big plus is that there isn’t a major injury scare or any issues to worry about. Yes, Bukayo Saka returned early, but it seems as though he will be ready for the trip to Manchester City.
Whilst William Saliba struggled for regular starts and Ben White decided to enjoy a holiday in Dubai after snubbing a chance to represent England.
It was a different story altogether for Declan Rice after he started both of England’s friendly games against Brazil and Belgium.
In what was the Arsenal midfielder’s 50th cap, for the first time in his international career, he captained his country during the 2-2 draw against the Belgians on Tuesday night.
The £100 million player was lauded and applauded by his teammates on Instagram, including from Jude Bellingham.
The Real Madrid superstar started alongside Declan Rice at Wembley and even scored his team’s equalising goal in stoppage time.
After the game, the man with England’s armband expressed his delight at being given such an honour, with his teammates sending him the following messages in the comments section.
Declan Rice captains England for the first time
“Congratulations, brother,” wrote Bellingham. “Always a pleasure.”
Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon added: “Congrats brother, well deserved.”
And Kalvin Phillips, who has been dropped from the England set-up, wrote: “Legend brother. Congrats.”
Declan Rice and the Premier League title
Arsenal fans will be breathing a sigh of relief that Rice isn’t injured and he will now return to north London ready to go again.
It’s a small matter of trying to win the Premier League title and then aiming to knock Bayern Munich out of the Champions League.
Rice has been at the heart of Arsenal’s success so far and he could argue that he has been his side’s best player this term.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Mikel Arteta uses him and if he does rotate him midway through games because he is one of the very few starters that has played a lot of minutes over the international break.
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