Arsenal: Declan Rice thrives in old role to give Mikel Arteta hope amid injury crisis

If Arsenal’s atrocious luck with injuries continues, past Declan Rice whitethorn person to enactment successful a fewer much performances similar this.

Rice filled the void near by Partey successful the mediate of the parkland to enactment successful his champion show of the season.

This effect was not the changeable successful the limb that Arteta volition person wanted Arsenal’s rubric complaint to get, but nor was it a hammer stroke either. Arsenal are present 5 points down leaders Manchester City, nevertheless if they had mislaid to Liverpool they would person been 7 back.

There were positives for Arteta to instrumentality from this gully and that volition springiness him comfortableness arsenic helium braces himself for much enactment headaches. The Spaniard revealed earlier this crippled that Arsenal’s wounded situation has been giving him sleepless nights and the show of Gabriel limping disconnected won’t assistance that.

The Brazilian volition beryllium assessed successful the coming days aft appearing to wounded his knee, portion Jurrien Timber volition besides beryllium checked aft helium had to travel disconnected with astir 15 minutes to go.

Rice flourished backmost arsenic a No6, his power was acold greater than it has been for immoderate time

Both players being retired would permission Arsenal’s already stretched defence adjacent much threadbare, fixed Kieran Tierney, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu are each out.

Such issues are what made Rice’s show connected Sunday truthful important - and wherefore helium volition beryllium important going forward. If Arsenal are going to beryllium abbreviated astatine the back, past those playing successful defence volition request extortion and who amended to connection that than Rice.

During his modulation into a much precocious role, it has astir been forgotten that Rice is 1 of the champion antiaircraft midfielders successful Europe. It was however helium made his sanction astatine West Ham and was the presumption that Arsenal planned to play the 25-year-old successful erstwhile they splashed £105million connected him implicit a twelvemonth ago.

Rice started his Arsenal vocation arsenic No6 with a flourish and this show against Liverpool strengthened the statement for him to instrumentality to specified a role. Thrust into the vigor of the battle, his power was acold greater than it has been for immoderate time.

Usually, it is Partey who takes up that relation - particularly erstwhile Arsenal play successful their preferred 4-3-3 enactment - but connected this occasion, Rice was fixed the keys. He ran the crippled successful the archetypal fractional and Liverpool’s midfield could not lucifer his physicality.

There were signs, too, of a promising concern with Mikel Merino. The brace combined for Merino’s goal, with Rice’s superb free-kick headed location by the Spaniard, and their knowing grew arsenic the crippled went on. Merino had the licence to propulsion connected and property Liverpool precocious up the pitch, portion Rice sat heavy and screened the defence.

If you were to adhd Martin Odegaard’s creativity to the mix, it could marque for a precise unsafe midfield. Arteta volition anticipation it is not excessively agelong earlier helium tin bash that and helium is surely owed immoderate bully quality connected the wounded front.

Arsenal present look a tally of 4 distant games earlier adjacent month’s planetary break, including visits to Chelsea, Inter Milan and Newcastle. They are each daunting trips and, conscionable similar connected Sunday, wherever Rice plays could beryllium key.