Former Liverpool defender and pundit Jamie Carragher has backed Arsenal star Bukayo Saka to start for England in Qatar during the World Cup group stages. It comes ahead of an unusual tournament, which is starting in November and ending in December compared to the usual summer hosting.
It has created many complex scenarios for before, during and after the contest, with the Premier League in particular having to congest fixtures together before the month-long break. For the Gunners, this has worked out so far, sitting top of the league after 14 games played.
However, given the lack of cover on the right-wing, this has caused plenty of concern over Saka's condition as he is expected to play plenty of games. "Look at the top players in the world, they play 70 matches, every three days and make the difference and win the game," Mikel Arteta when asked why he isn't resting the youngster.
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"If you want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that. And if we start to put something different in the mind of a young player, I think we are making a huge mistake because then [he would] be like 'no, I don't play now, on astroturf I don't play.' I don't want that. I want them to be ruthless every three days. I want them knocking on my door [saying] 'I want to play, I want to win the game.'"
Despite the number of fixtures he has had to play, the winger has still impressed and played a huge part in making sure Arsenal sit top of the league at the break. There's little time to rest though as he quickly joins up with the Three Lions for the World Cup, where Carragher has backed him to start over Chelsea man Raheem Sterling.
He told Sky Sports: "I love Raheem Sterling and he was England’s best player in the Euros, he was out of this world. This season his form has not been great and lately in an England shirt. Saka has been playing that well in that position.
“I prefer Raheem on the left so it wasn’t a case of Saka vs Sterling. It was always going to be Saka on that side and then it’s Sterling vs Foden. I just think the actual ability of Foden, the way he’s playing since the European Championships, I’d go with him.”
It remains to be seen exactly how well he and his side will do in the tournament, but there will be hopes he can continue to show his club form on the world stage as well as come back in top condition.
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