Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has joked that he will be trying to get the England team early from his teammate Bukayo Saka ahead of Ukraine's clash with the Three Lions in the European Championship qualifiers on Sunday. Gareth Southgate's side go into the tie on the back of a 2-1 win over Italy in their opening fixture.
Goals from Declan Rice and Harry Kane gave England the lead in the first-half that could have been larger, but a finish from Mateo Retegui made for a tense end to the game that included a Luke Shaw red card. The side saw out the victory though, claiming a first win on Italian soil since 1961 as well as a much-needed three points to start the campaign.
The clash with Ukraine at Wembley offers a chance to make a perfect start to qualifying, with Saka discussing coming up against Zinchenko as well as the current war in his teammate's home nation. “I haven’t had any conversations with him about the war," the winger revealed before the game.
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"But if he wants to speak about it, I’m here to listen and to help him in any way I can. Oleks [Zinchenko] is a character. He’s my team-mate – but not on Sunday.”
Going into the tie, Zinchenko was also on press conference duties and joked about planning to get the England team news early through Saka. He told the media: "Bukayo [Saka] has not given me the line-up yet, but I am going to push as much as I can.”
It remains to be seen whether either player will face each other, with Zinchenko likely to start in midfield rather than his usual full-back position for the Gunners, while there's no guarantee Saka or fellow club and international teammate Aaron Ramsdale will feature in the game.
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