Declan Rice delivers final Arsenal red card verdict as clear promise made before Chelsea

Declan Rice has offered his thoughts on Arsenal's three red cards picked up so far this season before their Premier League match against Chelsea. Mikel Arteta has been forced to deal with numerous key absences this season, due to suspensions and injuries.

The latter is causing Arteta the most headaches for this weekend's impending London derby with Rice, Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino all still fitness doubts. "I have to be very vague on that one, because there's no clarity if he's going to be fit or not on the weekend," he said regarding Rice in his Friday press conference.

On Merino and Havertz, Arsenal's manager added: "We will have to wait to see how they react. Kai had a nasty cut, and he could not continue so we had to take him off. With Mikel he wasn't feeling great since the day before so we decided to sub him at half-time."

The Gunners will be keen for the trio feature especially given their recent form with just two wins picked up over their last six matches across three competitions. When asked in an interview with Freddie Ljungberg, as published on Arsenal's official website, about the tough start, Rice said: "Red cards have been tough.

"To play 45 minutes against Brighton, who are known for keeping the ball and creating spaces, Man City the same and then obviously Bournemouth, you have change your tactics.

"I think in general the manager wants us to be compact. He doesn't want us to be conceding lots of chances going about pressing all over the pitch. We are an unbelievable pressing team, and players from other teams say that you straight away.

"We suffocate teams with our press and there's a time and place to do that. It's recognising when we can sit in and be strong. We're comfortable in that block - or go all out and attack teams. There's been a bit of a balance this year, but we're also playing against very good teams week-in, week-out."

Although he might not feature, Rice is fully aware of the challenge which awaits at Stamford Bridge. "The Premier League is so tough, there's no guaranteed wins," he added:

"You have to earn every point. This weekend is a key one, because Chelsea have been really good this season and we can see where we're at with our character and mentality."

Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!

By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.

To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!

If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.