Arsenal Welcomes Back Rice and Saka for Community Shield Clash

Mikel Arteta will have Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka back at his disposal when Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.

The pair have rejoined full training after extended breaks following England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals in North America and are in contention for the traditional season curtain-raiser in Cardiff, where the Premier League champions meet the FA Cup holders.

Rice is not the only returning World Cup winner. Martin Zubimendi, fresh from lifting the trophy with Spain last month, is also back in the fold and ready to feature.

“They will be available,” Arteta said of Rice, Saka and Zubimendi in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow. If they are in the condition we expect them to be, they will be involved.”

Saka and Raya back ahead of schedule

Saka had originally been scheduled to report back on Monday. He cut that short. So did Spain goalkeeper David Raya, with both players returning to Arsenal earlier than planned on Saturday.

Arteta has also welcomed back Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino from their post-World Cup breaks. All three featured in Wednesday’s pre-season draw with Como, as did Raya, giving the manager a far deeper bench heading into the weekend.

Not everyone is available. William Saliba faces a lengthy spell out with a back problem that flared up during the World Cup. The issue does not require surgery, but it has ruled the centre-back out for an extended period.

Injury concerns eased for Rice and Saka

Saka spent much of the second half of last season managing an Achilles problem. Rice, speaking during the World Cup, revealed he had been struggling with neural pain in his hamstring since Christmas, then battled a calf issue and illness on top of that.

Arteta, though, is convinced the break has done its job.

“We haven’t noticed anything,” he said. “They have individual plans. Through the time they had with the national team they’ve been trying to evolve those issues and they have improved.

“In the rest period that they had, they both had specific programmes for themselves. They’ve been doing those and so far what I saw the last two or three days, it was really good.”

Timber and Saliba remain long-term worries

While Rice, Saka and Zubimendi edge back into the picture, Jurrien Timber will miss out against City. The versatile defender is still dealing with a groin injury that has troubled him since March.

The Dutch international missed the World Cup entirely, managing only a brief return off the bench in the Champions League final in May. Arteta said earlier this week that Timber was still “weeks away” from a comeback, and that timeline has not shifted significantly.

“[He is] progressing really well,” Arteta said when asked for an update before facing a City side now led by former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. “He’s on the pitch, we’re ramping up now certain actions, especially the volume and the load.

“I think he’s on a good trajectory but still a few weeks to go. With Willy [Saliba], it is a more long-term injury.”

Could Timber return before the international break next month? Arteta refused to draw a line in the sand.

“I don’t know. We have to wait and see,” he said. “He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so hopefully and then see how he progresses from there.

“But obviously it’s been a long-term issue and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one. He’s such an important player for us.”

So Arsenal head to Cardiff with their attacking heartbeat restored, their midfield reinforced and their defence still patched together. Against a reshaped City under Maresca, the first real glimpse of what this new season might hold arrives on Sunday.