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Four Arsenal players will be missing as Thomas Tuchel prepares to test his squad in England’s friendly against New Zealand ahead of the World Cup.

England’s World Cup campaign officially kicks off on Saturday when they take on New Zealand in the first of their two warm-up matches before the tournament. The second friendly is set for next Wednesday against Costa Rica.

None of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, or Noni Madueke will feature in this match. The quartet have been granted additional rest days following their participation in last weekend’s Champions League final and will link up with the national team next week.

Manager Thomas Tuchel is likely to use these friendlies to experiment with his lineup before England fly to Kansas City to start their World Cup campaign. One area of focus could be the goalkeeping department, where both Dean Henderson and James Trafford are expected to get minutes across the two fixtures.

Henderson joined the England squad in Florida on Wednesday after a short break of his own, having helped Crystal Palace secure a clean sheet in their Conference League final victory in Leipzig last week.

In midfield, Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham are competing for the No.10 role, while Tuchel will need to find a solution for the right wing position. Both Saka and his backup Madueke are unavailable, and Jarrod Bowen from West Ham was not selected in the squad.

This situation may prompt Tuchel to deploy Rogers on the right or ask one of the two left wingers, Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford, to switch flanks to fill the gap.

Youngsters Ethan Nwaneri, Josh King, Rio Ngumoha, Jason Steele, and Alex Scott have been training with the squad in Florida and could make their senior international debuts in either the New Zealand or Costa Rica matches. However, none of them are included in the final World Cup squad and will return home after the conclusion of England’s 11-day training camp.

Alex Scott, in particular, is believed to be in contention for his first senior appearance during this period.

Predicted England XI vs New Zealand (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Konsa, Stones, Guehi, O’Reilly; Mainoo, Henderson; Rashford, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane.

Unavailable: Rice, Saka, Madueke, Eze.