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Arsenal played out a 2-2 draw against Liverpool on May 11, at Anfield in the Premier League. One of their main-stays Declan Rice, was not included in the match squad by manager Mikel Arteta, which raised questions about the midfielder’s absence. Recent reports seem to suggest that Rice might be struggling with a hamstring injury and was therefore left out from the squad by Arteta. While the seriousness of the injury doesn’t seem to be much, the medical staff does not wish to take any risks with the player’s recovery.
In Rice’s absence, Arteta chose to deploy a midfield of Mikle Merino, Thomas Partey, and Martin Odegard against The Reds at Anfield. Rice has been a player of massive impact this season for Arsenal as he has solidified his place in that defensive midfield position. Despite this, Rice has 18 G/A this season, including two breath-taking free kicks goals against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Interestingly, Rice’s injury history in his professional career has been highly impressive as the 26-year-old has only been sidelined twice in his entire career, that too for spans of 12 and 16 days only.
This doesn’t define us: Declan Rice refuses to give up after UCL exit and going trophyless this year
Rice’s incredible resistance to injuries can be regarded to his high standards of fitness and physical prowess and Arsenal’s team management will be hoping that this current injury scare is also of similar proportions. The Arsenal midfielder recently spoke out in an interview for Sky Sports about Arsenal’s disheartening exit from the Champions League at the hands of the PSG and a trophyless season yet again.
Speaking about his mentality after all this, Rice said, “Every trophy player who was won a trophy has lost along the way (but) they’ve never stopped believing or dreaming… This doesn’t define us, we are going to keep pushing and keep setting up for more and what this club deserves.” Arsenal fans will be hoping that the injury isn’t a serious one and that Declan Rice will take to the pitch very soon.
