England manager Gareth Southgate has warned the Manchester United players missing from his current squad that they face a tough test to secure a spot for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
The Three Lions are preparing for their fourth Nations League match against Hungary on Tuesday, following a three-match winless streak that has seen them lose in Budapest before draws with Germany and Italy.
Southgate's focus is already on fine-tuning his squad for the World Cup, which begins on November 21, and managing the "strange lead-in" to the finals that fall midway through the 2022-23 Premier League season.
There are several notable absentees from Southgate’s ranks this month, including Manchester United trio Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, with Harry Maguire currently the only representative from United in the squad.
When asked if United’s absence from the Champions League next season could result in their England contingent being fresher than some of their counterparts, Southgate declared "They've got a lot to do to get back in the squad."
Shaw is currently sidelined through injury and has a clearer route back into Southgate's plans since Chelsea's Ben Chilwell is currently the only recognised left-back available, while Sancho and Rashford were both omitted due to poor form.
With just one England camp before the World Cup, falling in September with the final two Nations League games against Germany and Italy, opportunities to break back into the squad will be limited and there is vast competition for a seat on the plane to Qatar.
Rashford contributed four goals and two assists for United in the Premier League last season in 25 appearances, while Sancho's debut season at Old Trafford saw him net three goals and secure three assists in 29 league appearances.
Southgate has until October 21 to submit a long list of players to FIFA, with the final squad expected to be announced three weeks later.
The 51-year-old, who has come under fire for his perceived cautious team selections, is hoping to work closely with clubs to monitor the fitness of his players early next season.
"Information sharing is pretty good medically and we get the performance data from the Premier League so you've got some markers," he said.
"But equally there's always an understanding that clubs that have big games might not want to share certain things too early if they've got players that might miss games.
"In general we have decent relationships with the clubs on that stuff but there's always going to be a bit of an element of the unknown in that period."
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
Arteta warns Arsenal they must be at their best to beat Man Utd at Old Trafford
Mikel Arteta has cautioned his Arsenal team they must be "at their best" if they are to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
After title rivals Manchester City won 4-0 at Fulham on Saturday to put Pep Guardiola's men within two victories of the Premier League title, Arsenal will look to keep the pressure on with a triumph at Old Trafford.
Those have been hard to come by of late for the Gunners, however, winning just one of their last 16 Premier League visits to United.
With that history in mind, Arteta knows his side will have to put in a top performance to claim the three points on Sunday, telling reporters: "I think every game has a different context.
"We know the difficulty. It's in our history when you look at what we've done over there. So we're going to have to be at our best to win the game."
United come into the contest in poor form, with a run of two wins in 10 league outings leaving them with an uphill battle if they are to qualify for any form of European football next season.
The Red Devils are currently eighth, six points behind fifth-placed Tottenham, and Erik ten Hag watched his side get hammered 4-0 at Crystal Palace on Monday.
However, Ten Hag still feels he has the backing of the United owners, saying: "They have common sense.
"They see when you have 32 different backlines, when you lose eight centre-backs and when we don't have a left full-back. They know that will have a negative impact on results."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester United – Marcus Rashford
Rashford has been involved in six goals in his last four Premier League starts against Arsenal, scoring four and assisting two. Overall, his 10 goal involvements against the Gunners (six goals, four assists) is his most against a single opponent in the Premier League, and he will look to once again haunt Arsenal on Sunday.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka is an injury doubt for Sunday, which would be a bitter blow to their chances of victory considering his record against United. The winger has been involved in five Premier League goals against United (three goals, two assists), registering a goal (three) or assist (one) in each of his last four against them. Only Thierry Henry (12) has had a hand in more against the Red Devils for Arsenal than Saka in the competition.
MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal are looking to complete the league double over United for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign, while they last won three in a row against the Red Devils between November 1997 and September 1998.
Having failed to score in 12 of their first 22 Premier League away games against United, Arsenal have found the net in each of their last nine league visits to Old Trafford.
The Gunners have though lost their final away league game in three of their four previous seasons under Arteta, with the exception being a 3-1 win at Palace in 2020-21. However, the Gunners are unbeaten when facing Manchester United in their final Premier League away game (one win, two draws), securing the title with a 1-0 win in 2001-02.
United have conceded 81 goals in all competitions this season, last conceding more in a single campaign back in 1970-71 (82).
United have also lost 18 games in all competitions this season, last losing more in a single campaign in 1977-78 (19).
Arsenal have kept 10 clean sheets away from home in the Premier League this season, last keeping more on the road in a single top-flight campaign in 1990-91 (13), and despite their poor recent record at Old Trafford, they look the favourites to pick up three much-needed points on Sunday.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Man Utd: 28.7%
Arsenal: 43.1%
Draw: 28.2%
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
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