Harry Kane is expected to be fit to face Arsenal in the Champions League (Image: GETTY)
Harry Kane has left England’s camp ahead of tonight’s match against Belgium due to injury - but the Bayern Munich striker should be fine to face Arsenal next month. Former Tottenham centre-forward Kane will reunite with familiar foes in the form of the Gunners in April’s Champions League quarter-finals.
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The England captain was hoping to earn his 90th cap for his country against Brazil on Saturday night but was unable to feature against the Selecao. And he will not be involved for the visit of Belgium to Wembley this evening either in what is the Three Lions’ final proper test before this summer’s Euros.
Gareth Southgate’s men face Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in their final two Euros warm-ups in June. But Belgium represents a chance to beat another major nation at a time when Southgate’s record against elite opponents is being questioned.
The Manchester United-linked coach, 53, has lost 10 of 23 matches against the current top 10-ranked nations in his eight years in the job. Belgium are fourth on UEFA’s current list. But Kane has returned to Germany in order to train alone with Bayern and was pictured at their Sabener Strasse training base on Monday.
With Arsenal keeping a keen eye on the striker’s fitness, his international manager says it was “always the plan” for Kane to leave early due to an ankle problem. Southgate explained: “He’ll be doing individual work for the next few days. [Would he have played] Had it been a qualifier? Hmm, not sure.
Harry Kane trained alone at Bayern Munich on Monday (Image: GETTY)
“We might have pushed a little bit more but that still might not have been the right decision.” Kane is enjoying a fantastic season with 37 goals and 12 assists in 35 games for Bayern. He also has four goals and one assist in five appearances for England since the start of September.
The 30-year-old will be desperate to shoot down Arsenal in the last eight of the Champions League given his Spurs connections. He is looking to win the first trophy of his career with the Bundesliga champions but is likely to miss out on the German title to Bayer Leverkusen barring a spectacular collapse late in the campaign.
Kane has 14 goals in 19 appearances against the north Londoners. And in those two legs against the Gunners, Kane will come face-to-face with two of his England team-mates in Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
Rice will take the armband from Kane against the Belgians but faces another tricky test this weekend in the Premier League before he can even begin thinking about taking on Bayern. Arsenal face title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad this Sunday.
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Harry Kane suffered an ankle injury before the international break (Image: GETTY)
And midfielder Rice explained: “A potential title-decider, it’s going to be really tight. We have got to go to the Etihad which is going to be really tough, but if you want to get past that barrier of Arsenal being labelled stuff, you have to go there and win.
“We have to show that steeliness and character to prove we can be one of the best teams. There’s no doubt that City are the best team in the world at the minute, but we have full confidence and belief as a group and the manager, that we can get a result.”
