UEFA Nations League: Five players withdraw from England squad including returning star

England have revealed that five Premier League players have withdrawn from the squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures.

Arsenal's Declan Rice, Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Newcastle United's Tino Livramento have dropped out of the squad alongside Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo.

Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Everton's James Garner have been called up.

Palmer had earned a recall to the squad after being left out of Thomas Tuchel's selection for the 2026 World Cup, and he played the full 90 minutes of Chelsea's 3-0 loss to Brentford on Friday.

Rice has been dealing with a long-term hamstring issue, meanwhile, and the midfielder will now instead have a rest period during the international break.

Rice, Palmer, Livramento, Rashford, Mainoo withdraw from England squad

Livramento has suffered nine separate injuries since arriving at Newcastle United in 2023, and another problem has forced him to pull out of the squad.

Meanwhile, Man United duo Rashford and Mainoo both picked up injuries during their side's 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Mainoo did not play a single minute for England at the 2026 World Cup, but he has been in strong form for Man United at the start of this season.

"I expect him to be on the pitch and it's my duty to get him on the pitch. That was totally on me. He didn't put a foot wrong during the World Cup," Tuchel said when announcing his squad, having been asked about the inclusion of Mainoo.

"He was class in behaviour on the training pitch. There was big competition; we played Reece [James] in central midfield also. Elliot Anderson is amazing for us, Declan Rice is a very unique player

"We trusted them more than we trusted Kobbie. It was difficult for him. It was on me.

"He got injured before the France game so we couldn't even give him minutes there, which hurt me. Maybe he was more hurt than me but it was my responsibility and it's my responsibility to reward him for that."

When are England in action?

England will begin their Nations League campaign against Spain on September 26, before taking on Czech Republic three days later.

The Three Lions will then face Croatia on October 3 and Czech Republic on October 6, before returning to action in November with games against Croatia (H) and Spain (A).