Declan Rice Arsenal EPL
Arsenal FC EPL
Arsenal take on Everton in the Premier League this weekend and currently, there are fears that Declan Rice will miss this home game.
A player misses one game due to suspension if he accumulates five yellow cards during one half of the season and after Rice’s yellow card vs Fulham, these fears were about to come true.
However, the Arsenal fans can breathe easily because the two yellow cards he picked up vs Brighton back in October will not count in the five yellow cards list because those two yellows resulted in Declan Rice being sent off immediately.
This basically means the English midfielder will be available for selection on Saturday and he will operate in his usual role in the middle of the pitch. As per the official Premier League website, Declan Rice is still with three yellow cards against his name.
Declan Rice has been a consistent performer ever since he joined Arsenal and despite playing in a slightly central role, the 25-year-old has provided two assists in 13 Premier League games.
He has a passing accuracy of 90.30% and has created 22 major chances in the league alone. On the defensive side, the midfielder has won 61.5% of his aerial duels and he’s also won back possession 13 times in the final third.
Rice along with Partey and Jorginho have provided stability in Arsenal’s midfield and if Thomas Partey has to play at right-back then Rice’s presence will be even more important.
Everton are just about avoiding the relegation zone, picking up just 14 points from their first 14 matches. However, they will have a little bit of confidence under their belt as they go to the Emirates Stadium at the back of a 4-0 win over Wolves.
Talking about Arsenal, the Gunners are currently third on the league table – six points behind league leaders Arsenal but they have played one game more than Slot’s team. The North London side have a fairly easy and winnable run of games going into the new year and Mikel Arteta will be hoping to pick up maximum points from all these games.
Their next major challenge will come in the form of the North London Derby on the 15th of January.