Arsenal star praises his “unbelievable” opposite number playing for Chelsea

Every Premier League game has a meta-theme, and today’s Chelsea Arsenal game seems to centre around the Declan Rice – Moises Caicedo dynamic.

There are a few context reasons for this – question marks about Rice’s fitness (he’s now been declared fit and ready) and Caicedo’s good form to start the season being recognised. The pair moved to their new clubs for equally huge sums at a similar time, so the long term comparisons of who got a better deal were always going to be coming.

So it was no surprise to see Rice asked about the man he’ll be taking on in midfield today in his interview with Sky Sports ahead of the game. You can see the Arsenal man speaking in the clip embedded here:

Rice predicts intense Caicedo battle

“With Moisés, I’ve been playing against him since he was at Brighton, had some really tough battles then, and I always knew and see what a good player he was,” Rice explained to Pau Merson.

“And I think this season, now, after last season, people said last year, okay, he wasn’t the best, and it took him time to settle. But I think towards the back end of the season, his form was so strong. This season as well, he’s been unbelievable and showing now what he’s been doing at Brighton. So I think for sure, he’s another player who’s handled the price tag now really well, because to play for a club that Chelsea is obviously real big pressure. So, yeah, fair play him as well.”

Rice’s story will always be a slightly bittersweet one for Blues fans – he was at the club as a kid, and looked close to returning before moving to North London. We’ll always be left wondering what might have happened – but it’s hard to not be happy with Caicedo.