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Eberechi Eze has just 85 minutes to his name in the Premier League so far this season, with the England man struggling to nail down a place in Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side.
He has not started a single top-flight match in 2026/27, with his only starts coming in the UEFA Champions League win over Napoli and the Carabao Cup defeat of Ipswich Town.
The 28-year-old will not want to become a cup rotation player and will be keen to show he has what it takes to become one of Arteta's trusted starters.
So far this season, Arteta has gone for new signing Christos Tzolis in the left-wing position, with the revitalised captain Martin Odegaard making the No.10 role his own. Those would be Eze's preferred positions on the pitch and he may have to bide his time for those two incumbents to drop out of form.
Even with Arsenal struggling 3-0 in their last encounter with Brighton & Hove Albion, Eze was only gifted 17 minutes off the bench. The game was long up by then, with the Seagulls netting their third of the afternoon 16 minutes prior to his arrival on the pitch.
The extended three-week international break has offered Eze a bit of respite from domestic action and the opportunity to showcase his skills with his England teammates, and perhaps prove a point to Arteta.
But so far he has only gone and proved Arteta right about his lack of pitch time.
Eze did not get off the substitutes' bench during the 3-2 defeat to Spain in their opening Nations League encounter on Saturday, but was given minutes by Thomas Tuchel in Prague as the Three Lions won 2-0.
Up against ten men after Pavel Sulc's red card in the 25th minute, Eze was thrown into the action, to try and turn the screw and get England the three points, with the match goalless at half-time. But while the Three Lions did ultimately go on and win the game, Eze's impact was minimal.
In our GIVEMESPORT report card, Eze was given a grading of D, making him the second worst player on the pitch from an England standpoint.
Our report card read: "With England having a man advantage, Tuchel turned to Eze to try and find a way through the Czechia defence. But the crafty playmaker didn't make too much of an impact, but he did keep things tidy in midfield. Felt like a missed opportunity for him to make an impression."
Eze touched the ball 36 times in total, which is not bad for only 45 minutes on the ptich and created two chances, with three passes into the final third. He got two shots off, one of which was on target and touched the ball four times in the opposition box.
He ended up with a 6.5 rating from FotMob, with only Jude Bellingham and Morgan Gibbs-White getting a lower rating of the Three Lions, and they played just 19 and 9 minutes respectively.
Eze has two more England matches to try and change, not only Tuchel's mind, but Arteta's too, although he may struggle to get a start after the showing against Czechia.