Rice and Saka only joined up with England after the Uruguay game but felt some discomfort during a training session on Saturday.
The pair withdrew from England’s squad to face Japan at Wembley on Tuesday in a move that worried many Arsenal fans ahead of the return of club football this weekend.
Tuchel confirmed the pair, who were joined by teammate Noni Madueke who also returned from the camp, wanted to feature for the side.
"They wanted desperately to play to get the narrative straight, but it made no sense to make the risk.
"If it was the last game of the season we would have kept them, but in this moment of the season it did not make sense. The risk for making it was way too big.
"They were both clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessment. It made absolutely no sense that they stayed."
Arsenal are next in action when they face Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday, before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting next Tuesday.
Rice and Saka are both expected to return to face the Saints despite their injury concerns as Mikel Arteta keeps a close eye on the pair.
Meanwhile, for England captain Harry Kane, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Elliott Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Dean Henderson will be joining the squad after arriving into camp on Friday.