5 Things We Learned From Arsenal's Victory Against Bournemouth - Part 2

1) Rice plays well even when he isn’t 100%

There were plenty of concerns raised about the club record signing’s fitness heading into the game against Bournemouth.

After suffering back spasms versus Spurs, there was a decent chance that Rice would be forced to miss the trip to the South Coast.

However, the 24-year-old was surprisingly named in the starting lineup by Arteta, and he delivered another fine display at the base of Arsenal’s midfield.

Rice covered every blade of grass, closing down attacks, but he was also assured in possession, evading Bournemouth’s press and giving the Gunners a launchpad to start attacks.

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.