Saka, Palmer among 8 to pull out of England squad

Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer are among eight players to have pulled out of the England squad with injuries for their UEFA Nations League fixtures this month.

Levi Colwill, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice will also be unavailable for the matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

The injury exodus has seen Aston Villa‘s Morgan Rogers handed a first-ever callup. The uncapped duo of Tino Livramento and James Trafford have also been added into the squad along with Jarrod Bowen and Jarrad Branthwaite.

Saka went down with a leg injury in the latter stages of Arsenal‘s draw with Chelsea before being withdrawn in the 81st minute. Saka’s teammate Declan Rice started at Stamford Bridge despite sources telling ESPN that he had a broken toe. The midfielder was later replaced by Mikel Merino in the 71st minute.

Post-match, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sad that both injuries “don’t look good.”

There had been doubts over Cole Palmer’s involvement in Sunday’s clash due to injury concerns and while the 22-year-old played the entire 90 minutes, his performance was largely subdued.

Alexander-Arnold went off clutching his hamstring in the first-half of Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa on Saturday with Slot saying post-match that the injury was “not a good sign.”

Sources told ESPN that it is a low-grade injury that will keep him out for around two weeks.

Grealish’s withdrawal doesn’t come as a surprise, given his last game for Manchester City came on Oct. 20. His selection to the original squad drew consternation from Pep Guardiola, who said England interim-boss Lee Carsley hadn’t consulted him before picking the forward.

The upcoming set of fixtures will be Carsley’s last in charge of England before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel.