Arsenal are top of the Premier League table, although it doesn’t really feel like that.
On Saturday, the Gunners swatted aside West Ham 2-0 at home, with Declan Rice breaking the deadlock against his former side, before Bukayo Saka converted a second-half penalty, as the Hammers rarely threatened, underlined by the fact they failed to muster a single shot on target.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium was generally rather flat, possibly due to the rather dull game that was served up to those in attendance, a win that never truly felt in doubt, even at 0-0.
More importantly though, once again, Mikel Arteta suffered an injury to yet another key player; absentees derailed their title aspirations last season, with Gooners everywhere fearful that this could be the case again.
So, if the captain is sidelined for any length of time, should a key figure labelled the “best in the world” start donning the armband?
The latest on Martin Ødegaard's injury
Four days is a very long time in football, as Martin Ødegaard has discovered this week.
On Wednesday night against Olympiacos, the Norwegian was at his sublime, sparkling and scintillating best.
Manager Arteta described Ødegaard’s performance as “phenomenal”, while Dan Sheldon of the Athletic praised his ‘beautiful incisive passing’, outlining how ‘playing slightly deeper’, he was able to control all aspects of the game and really run the show.
However, come Saturday, for a third successive home Premier League game, the 26-year-old was forced off in the first half, plagued by a shoulder issue against Leeds and Nottingham Forest, this time suffering a knee injury.
Arteta said afterwards that the news is “not positive” with Ødegaard leaving the stadium in a knee brace, solemnly concluding “let’s wait… hopefully it is not that bad.”
So, if the skipper is forced to sit out games against Fulham, Atlético Madrid, Crystal Palace and perhaps beyond after the international break, who should be donning the armband instead?
Arsenal's future captain is now the "best in the world"
When Ødegaard has been sidelined both this season and last, the armband has rather been shared around, with Gabriel and Saka among those donning it in recent games.
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However, after yet another excellent display against his former club on Saturday, Rice has really come to the fore as a leader in this Arsenal team.
In football history, 11 players have moved for £100m or more, of which very few proved to be a success and, as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are finding out at Anfield, a price tag that gigantic can weigh even a world-class player down.
Well, Rice has certainly bucked the trend in that regard, unequivocally outstanding every week, with the table below documenting his importance to Arsenal so far this season.
Minutes
676
5th
Goals
1
7th
Assists
2
1st
Completed passes
437
3rd
Key passes
14
1st
Passes into final 3rd
33
2nd
Progressive carries
21
2nd
Corners takes
24
1st
Shot-creating actions
24
1st
Blocks
7
3rd
Ball recoveries
36
1st
Touches
565
3rd
As the numbers emphasise, Rice has become the complete all-rounder.
He leads the way in terms of key passes and shot-creating actions, a large proportion of which will be courtesy of his expert set-piece delivery, as well as ball recoveries, very much contributing across every area of the pitch.
Speaking about Archie Gray in his press conference on Friday, Tottenham manager Thomas Frank, of all people, asserted that Rodri and Rice are the “best in the world” in their position, adding that this is because “they can do a little bit of everything”.
It is hard to disagree with that assessment, considering Rice is able to put in a brilliant performance irrespective of where he is deployed, used at the base of midfield from the start on Saturday, before moving higher up following Martín Zubimendi’s introduction to replace Ødegaard.
During his final season at West Ham, one that culminated in Conference League glory, Rice was the club captain, donning the armband for England for the first time against Belgium last year too, underlining his leadership capabilities.
So, if Ødegaard is going to be sidelined for any period of time, Rice appears the obvious candidate to lead Arsenal out at Craven Cottage in a fortnight.
