For all the quality that the England national team has in its squad, you get the feeling that, whoever is managing the team, Declan Rice is the first name picked.
Arsenal had an entire defence lost by Sunday evening, but there was Declan covering space, reading the game brilliantly and getting his team-mates out of trouble.
He managed to find time to create the second goal for Mikel Merino with yet another wicked set-piece delivery and, at times, he seems to be doing the work of three players.
He will have to keep doing that, with the injuries and suspensions really kicking in now.
With no William Saliba, Gabriel and then Jurrien Timber near the end, Rice could not quite be everywhere. When a little naivete from Timber’s replacement, 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, gave Mohamed Salah too much space – two points were lost.
Lewis-Skelly was unfazed and his reaction was splendid, so I think they have found another good one there.
There were ragged moments from Arsenal and losing concentration at a corner, allowing Luis Diaz to win a near-post flicked header that led to Virgil van Dijk’s goal, would have left Arteta apoplectic.
It had happened once before in the game, and they did not seem to learn their lesson.
In the end, a draw was the fair result – no matter what you thought about the late “winner” Arsenal had chalked off or indeed any other refereeing decisions.
Arsenal have fallen five points behind Manchester City, so is it time to worry? It is suboptimal, but there is only a quarter of the league season played. Although, it might be an idea not to allow the gap to grow any bigger.
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