Rice ready to hunt down Liverpool in pursuit of Premier League glory

Declan Rice is relishing the chance of hunting down Premier League leaders Liverpool after helping Arsenal to a 5-1 thrashing of champions Manchester City on Sunday.

Rice played a crucial role in the Gunners’ triumph at the Emirates Stadium, grabbing two assists in the second half for teenage duo Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri.

The England international also created more chances (four) than any of his Arsenal team-mates, while only Gabriel Magalhaes (71) and Thomas Partey (63) had more touches during the contest for Mikel Arteta’s side.

The result saw Arsenal extend their unbeaten run to 14 consecutive top-flight games (W9 D5), something they last managed under Unai Emery in 2018 (also a run of 14).

But, more importantly, they closed the gap to Liverpool at the summit to six points having watched Arne Slot’s side beat Bournemouth on Saturday.

The Opta supercomputer hands Arsenal just a 10.3% chance of lifting their first Premier League title since 2003-04, but Rice is confident that his team can overcome the odds.

“Liverpool are still quite far in front, especially with the game in hand and with them winning yesterday you know going into the game that you have to win,” Rice told Sky Sports.

“It’s more disappointing the games like Aston Villa when we were 2-0 up and dropped points because we could be up there closer to Liverpool.

“But we will be there, and we will keep pushing. We do need others to help us, but we know what the goal is and that’s to hunt them down and win the Premier League.

“We need to stay positive, and I’m sure we will be fine.”

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who got the scoring underway in just the second minute, echoed the thoughts of his fellow midfielder following the full-time whistle.

The Gunners have dropped points to Everton, Brighton and Aston Villa in recent weeks, but Odegaard insisted that Arsenal can beat anyone in the Premier League on their day.

“There is a lot of pressure going into this game, but we played a brilliant game. We know we can beat any team, and today we showed that.”