Gary Neville Shares Declan Rice Worry After Arsenal’s Big Win vs Tottenham

arsenal declan rice

Arsenal, following their 4-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium to round off a frantic weekend of Premier League action, have now gone seven competitive matches unbeaten against their arch-rivals and Gary Neville, who was impressed by the Gunners’ imperious showing, singled out the one Declan Rice worry he holds over Mikel Arteta’s side.

Barring Richarlison’s worldie in the second half, Thomas Frank’s Spurs were a shadow of the team which beat Manchester City 2-0 in August – and conceding four goals in the fashion they did will be a concern moving forward. That’s especially the case with a visit to Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes on the horizon.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Throughout his Arsenal career as a player or manager, Mikel Arteta has never lost a home game against Tottenham Hotspur in any competition.

Sunday afternoon’s stroll in the park was dominated by Arsenal playmaker Eberechi Eze, who scored a hat-trick of strikes after Leandro Trossard drew first blood in the 36th minute. In the absence of Martin Odegaard, the summer recruit stepped up to the plate and became the first hat-trick hero in North London derbies of the Premier League era.

It’ll no doubt be Eze’s name basking in the spotlight after what looked a routine victory over their arch-rivals – but, truth be told, there were plenty of big performances that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Bukayo Saka was a constant threat on the wing, Trossard’s goal was the tip of the iceberg and Piero Hincapie looked comfortable at the back. Rice, too, was excellent.

Gary Neville Points Out Single Declan Rice Worry After 4-1 Win Over Spurs

declan rice

Now six points clear at the top of the 2025/26 Premier League table, it’ll take some doing to derail the Gunners’ title pursuit as their enviable strength in depth means that many changes are like-for-like replacements. At the time of writing, Viktor Gyokeres, Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes are all out of action.

Neville, however, fears that Arsenal have one irreplaceable talent at the heart of their success and that’s none other than midfield maestro Declan Rice. The Englishman, 26, moved from West Ham United in the summer of 2023 and has since featured for the capital club north of 100 times.

“The interesting thing is they’ve got [Riccardo] Calafiori and [Jurrien] Timber at full-back. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White are probably better going forward, although there’s not much between White and Timber,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast. “They’ve got real options at full-back, real options at centre-back.”

Likening the 1999-born ace to Manchester City lynchpin and the 2024 Ballon d’Or-winning Rodri and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane given how influential he is to proceedings in north London, Neville worries about how Arteta and his men would fare without Rice in the engine room.

“The only player you’d be worried about losing for a period of time would be Declan Rice because you can’t replace that. That’s your Roy Keane, that’s your Rodri, the player that holds you together. There’s only one of them.”

“They have got options if he wasn’t there, but you’d never be able to replace the ability of him to be powerful on set-pieces, his running, his tackling, his impact on the game going forward,” Neville continued before adding, “I’m really happy with Arsenal watching them this season, I like watching good teams play football.”

Rice – and for very good reason, too – is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football after consistently brilliant performances for the Gunners and, this season alone, he’s registered eight goal involvements (two goals and six assists) in 18 appearances across all competitions. His influence moves beyond actions in the final third mind.

The perfect box-to-box presence, London-born Rice would be a sore miss if he was to pick up a long-term injury between now and the end of the campaign. Adding to that, Neville is also of the belief that Arsenal are the leading contenders for the Premier League trophy – and that’s despite them finishing runners-up three seasons on the bounce.

It’s not only a squad that should go on and win the Premier League, it’s a squad that I can see winning the Champions League in the next two or three years,” he said before suggesting winning Europe’s top table will be on the horizon in the seasons to come.

“It might not be this season because sometimes when you go on to win your first Premier League you can get so consumed by that, you get done in a European game in midweek in a two-legged tie. But they’re getting to that level of performance and resilience and stability and consistency.”

For the time being at least, it’s Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal who hold the bragging rights after putting Tottenham Hotspur to the sword in a 4-1 victory in the first North London Derby of the 2025/26 campaign. In what was a memorable occasion, both Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba took to Instagram to celebrate the win and troll Spurs’ Richarlison.

Although it was Leandro Trossard to open the scoring after the Belgian was found by a brilliant Mikel Merino ball in the penalty area, Sunday’s meeting with Thomas Frank’s men was all about Eberechi Eze, who became the first Arsenal player since Alan Sunderland in December 1978 to score a hat-trick against their north London rivals.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statsitic: Eberechi Eze has scored the 400th hat-trick in Premier League history and also the 23rd player for Arsenal. In fact, no club has had more different hat-trick scorers since the league’s rebrand in 1992.

Albeit in controversial fashion due to the fact there were Arsenal bodies between himself and Guglielmo Vicario, the 27-year-old playmaker grabbed his first four minutes before the half-time break before striking once again in the 46th minute. His third goal of the match – against a side he almost joined in the summer – came in the 76th minute.

Eze’s name will be strung up in lights following his three-goal showcase on the weekend – but the foundations to win have been set for years and that’s largely down to the central defensive partnership of Gabriel and Saliba. And, post-match, the two couldn’t help but poke fun at Richarlison, who admittedly scored a worldie consolation five minutes shy of the hour mark.

Gabriel and Saliba Poke Fun at Richarlison After 4-1 North London Derby Win



Gabriel, who has been an ever-important piece to the puzzle at the Emirates Stadium, was unable to play in Arsenal’s 4-1 victory on Sunday after picking up an injury while on international duty was Brazil. Earlier this month, the centre-back hobbled off during his nation’s 2-0 win over Senegal and Arteta has since confirmed he’ll be out for weeks.

He could still be seen celebrating Eze’s hat-trick of strikes from the stands – and his post-match post has endeared himself to the Emirates Stadium more than was already possible.

Back in July, the Spurs forward took to Instagram to post a picture of him alongside his Man of the Match award, tagging Gabriel after a 1-0 win over Arsenal in a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong. At the time, the defender responded by sharing a picture of his three Premier League Player of the Match awards, all of which had been picked up against Spurs.

Making the most of Arsenal’s win, he took to the same social media platform to pose in Eze’s shirt with an Arsenal scarf wrapped round his neck. In the photo, too, was a signed match ball, the hat-trick hero’s Player of the Match gong and his own Arsenal Player of the Month award from October.

Not only that, but he couldn’t help himself but to tag Richarlison in the photo, too, as a subtle reminder of the chasm between the two sides from north London. As things stand, Arteta – widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football – and his team sit top of the Premier League; Spurs are current ninth with 18 points from 12 matches.

Across senior and youth sides, the pair have lined up alongside one another on ten different occasions – and Gabriel will hope that Richarlison can see the amusing side.

Saliba, too, couldn’t help but get involved in the trolling of 28-year-old Richarlison, who has scored five Premier League goals since his side’s curtain-raiser in August. The Frenchman – with the caption of “North London is still Red” – put up a picture of him tussling with the Spurs striker, who looked to be tumbling onto the floor.

The fifth picture of his carousel, again, included Richarlison – and it also depicted Saliba winning their match-long physical battle as he looked to be bringing his challenger to the floor. To rub even more salt into the wounds of Richarlison, the 24-year-old’s post was re-posted by his partner in crime, Gabriel. Up next for the Gunners is mid-week Champions League action.

Arteta’s men, one of the biggest clubs to never win Europe’s top table, have the small matter of hosting Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich – and the talismanic Harry Kane will be looking to avenge his former side. For Frank’s Spurs, they travel to the French capital to face reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

The Gunners went into the north London derby as favourites, but they had to wait until the 36th minute to break the deadlock through Leandro Trossard.

Merino was the key catalyst behind the goal. The Spaniard delivered a sublime lob pass behind Spurs’ defence for Trossard, who opened the scoring with the help of a deflection.

Arsenal controlled proceedings thereafter. Eberechi Eze scored on either side of the break. Spurs reduced the deficit with a stellar long-range goal from Richarlison in the 55th minute.

However, the Gunners regained composure to seal a 4-1 win. Eze completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute, and could have easily scored another. Guglielmo Vicario pulled off a superb save.

Speaking after the derby, Arteta was posed with plenty of questions. One of those was centered around Merino, who had another impressive performance as a makeshift striker for the Gunners.

The manager said: “Yes, I think he was incredible again, and we are asking him to feel as a nine, and he’s not a nine, and to do a lot of the things that a nine has to do.

“But he’s such an intelligent player, and his work ethic and his desire to contribute and make others better is that big.

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“And again, those performances give you all the right reason to continue to trust him.”

When asked to describe his position, Arteta added: “I don’t know, a defensive nine.”

Arsenal delivered a stupendous display at the Emirates Stadium and have now moved six points clear of second-placed Chelsea. They face the Blues at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

Prior to that, the Gunners have a huge Champions League clash against Bayern Munich at home on Wednesday. It promises to be another entertaining affair, given the fine form of both clubs.

Arteta said yesterday that Viktor Gyokeres was not far from returning to the matchday squad after injury. If the Swede is fit, he could be eased back into action from the substitutes’ bench.

Merino may not be everyone’s favourite for the number nine position, but the Spanish ace continues to answer his critics whenever asked to play as the emergency centre-forward at Arsenal.

Aside from his assist, Merino won 100 percent of his tackles (5/5) and 10 duels. He also made four recoveries and dropped into a midfield role when Spurs had periods of possession.

The £31 million-rated star looks poised to lead the line against the German champions. The Gunners will be eyeing their first win over Bayern in six attempts, having previously won in 2015.