Arsenal are well and truly on the charge this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side are top of the Premier League table and on Tuesday night stunned Europe by dismantling Atlético Madrid in the Champions League.
While they finally faced a shot on target in the second half, the Gunners ended up putting four goals past the Spanish giants, and even then, didn’t even look like they were at their best.
One of the standout performers on the night was undoubtedly Declan Rice, and in brilliant news, another of Arteta’s signings is starting to play a bit like the Englishman.
Declan Rice's incredible form
To the surprise of practically nobody who has watched him over the last few years, Rice has continued to perform at a world-class level for Arsenal this season.
On top of being a bruising, no-nonsense midfielder who can batter opposition players and disrupt their attacks, he’s become a sensational offensive operator in his own right.
Whether it’s crashing the box late, lashing in a shot from range or delivering absurdly perfect set-piece deliveries, the Englishman is a player opposition defenders simply cannot ignore.
His dead-ball expertise was on full display against Atléti on Tuesday night, as it was his free-kick that found the head of Gabriel Magalhães to open the scoring in the 57th minute.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, it was his free-kick in the 70th minute that eventually led to the Gunners’ fourth and final goal.
Moreover, he’s already chalked up three assists in the Premier League this season, all three of which have come from, you guessed it, set-pieces.
With all this in mind, it’s really quite difficult to disagree with Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz’s opinion that, in the former West Ham United captain, Arsenal have “the best set piece taker in world football.”
However, he’s not just a set-piece machine, and there is now another player in Arteta’s squad who is starting to emulate some of his other best traits.
The Arsenal star playing like Rice
There were several players who really shone for Arsenal on Tuesday night, from Gabriel to Martin Zubimendi and even Gabriel Martinelli, who scored a wonderful curled effort to make it 2-0
However, one of the real stars of the show, and the man who could be described as playing a bit like Rice these days, is Viktor Gyokeres.
The summer signing finally ended his goalscoring drought with a brace against Atléti, and while neither goal was particularly impressive from an aesthetic perspective, that really doesn’t matter.
It was just important for the Swedish international to finally get his name back on the scoresheet and to get some of the pressure off his back that has been slowly building over the last few weeks.
Moreover, even without the two goals, it was, as analyst Rohan Jivan said, his “best game in an Arsenal shirt by far,” and one that saw him named Man of the Match and given a 9/10 match rating by the Sun’s Jordan Davies.
For example, he was constantly making smart runs in behind the Madrid outfit’s defence, or off to the left to stretch the pitch and free up space for his teammates.
Moreover, even when the ball wasn’t finding him, or he had a couple of poor touches, his head never dropped; instead, it seemed to make him more determined.
This never-say-die and run yourself into the ground for the team approach is one of the key traits he shares with Rice, and then, on top of that, he’s also got that bruising, physical side to him.
The Stockholm-born “steam train,” as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, might not have the silky footwork of a Hugo Ekitiké or Alexander Isak, but like the former West Ham man, he will bulldoze his way into dangerous positions.
Appearances
12
Starts
11
Minutes
925′
Goals
5
Assists
0
Goals per Match
0.41
Minutes per Goal
185′
With all that said, it is still clear that there is more to come from the former Sporting CP monster this season, even if he now has a pretty reasonable haul of five goals in 12 games this season.
Ultimately, there are plenty of differences between the pair, but the way in which Gyokeres never gives up and uses his physical gifts to bulldoze opposition players is starting to make him look a bit Rice-like.