Speaking after his side were beaten 3-1 at the Emirates on Boxing Day, West Ham captain, Declan Rice has no doubt that Arsenal can win the Premier League this season.
Arsenal came from behind in the late kick-off on Boxing Day to claim all three points with three goals in front of three-time Premier League winner, Arsene Wenger, who returned to the stadium for the first time since 2018.
The win moved Arsenal seven points clear of Newcastle in second, although the Gunners have that game in hand against Manchester City. City play on Thursday, hoping to close the eight-point gap when they travel to Leeds United.
For a while against West Ham, it felt like it might be ‘one of those games’ for Arsenal, but they found a way to turn it around in style in the second half with three goals from the front three of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah, who also shut a few people up.
Asked after the game is Arsenal could win the Premier League, West Ham’s captain, Declan Rice said, “100%.
“They are a top team you can see they are coached incredibly well, have a lot of attacking talent, a young squad and they can go the whole way for sure.
“First-half we tried as hard as we could to stop them, we came up short and it’s frustrating.
“It’s a tough one because first-half even though we didn’t have much of the ball we defended really well, had a plan, went one-nil up but you can’t sustain that for 90 minutes against a team like Arsenal, it’s the same against City.
“In the end one of their chances will lead to something, with their free-flowing football they managed to get through.
“Your backs are against the wall and it’s down to us to keep going and we tried to do that but we couldn’t, we couldn’t get up the pitch, they smothered us.”
23-year-old Rice, who is a big fan of Bukayo Saka, is currently valued at around £70m and has 18 months left on his current West Ham contract. He reportedly wants to play Champions League football and Moyes has stated he will put up a ‘big fight’ to keep him at the club.
“He wants to win and play for a really good side which is going to give him the opportunity to do so,” Moyes told The Times amid reported Chelsea and Liverpool interest.
“We hope that we can reach the Champions League. It is looking difficult at this time.
“But we’re not just going to roll over and let Dec walk out of the building, that is for sure. It is going to be a big fight.
“I like it because he wants to challenge himself and he wants to play in the big games and be a top player. I don’t think you’re ever going to hold anybody back from having those ambitions.
“He played as well as anybody and he was exceptional at the World Cup. For a young player he really takes on responsibility. You think about how he is going to be in another four or five years, how he will mature and improve as a player and a leader.
“All those things are all to come and it’s all ahead of him.”
Speaking of Liverpool, they’ve signed Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven. The deadly forward had been linked with Arsenal but at no point did it really seem like London would be a place the Dutchman would end up.