Arsenal are five points adrift of league leaders Liverpool in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw with Man City. After three straight second place finishes in the English top tier, the team know they are under scrutiny, but Declan Rice thinks their “tough start” in the schedule should be accounted for.
‘It’s been a solid start’
Week to week, it will be nigh on impossible to stop the noise about Arsenal if they are not topping the table. They sit in second spot with a better goal difference than Tottenham and Bournemouth, and Rice reckons that the strength of the schedule until this point has skewed some of the perceptions.“I think arguably we’ve had a tougher start than any team in the league,”
There is a tough test against a bogey team in Newcastle United on the horizon, and the Gunners have already engaged in three ‘Big Six’ battles. They defeated Man United 1-0 at Old Trafford in a nervy encounter, lost 1-0 to the defending champions at Anfield, and have now drawn against the Citizens.
“We played some of the best teams already. We’ve got Newcastle United next week, then West Ham, it doesn’t get any easier. It’s been a solid start, obviously, the defeat away at Liverpool really hurt us.”
Rice rallied the troops, asking that all parties involved in the interests of the side stick together.
“The main thing is to keep winning games in this league. That’s what we’re going to keep trying. Keep staying positive, trying to dominate football matches. Let’s keep pushing and supporting everyone.”
Any dropped points will sting as possible moments that the title race went against the team when it is all said and done. But a late leveller from Gabriel Martinelli is no less worth celebrating for Rice.
“If we’d have lost today, it would have been a real kick in the teeth, but to get a point was important.”