Arsenal are off to a cracking start for their 2026/27 campaign on the heels of winning the Premier League title last season. Mikel Arteta’s side have won all five matches across all competitions that they’ve played so far between the Premier League, Community Shield, and Champions League.

Arguably, their only real test as of yet came in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates, but they’ve maintained their perfect record and show no real signs of slowing down anytime soon. Much like the case for last season’s title winning campaign, England international Declan Rice has been the heartbeat of Arteta’s midfield so far this season, which has been buoyed by the arrival of Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle United this summer.

Rice has started all but one of Arsenal’s matches so far this season, as he came on as a halftime replacement in the Community Shield win over Manchester City and he provided a key assist in last weekend’s win over Chelsea.

Clocking The Minutes

As things stand, only David Raya, Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel have clocked more minutes in the Premier League than Rice. He may well have played longer in the win over Coventry if the Gunners weren't handling three fixtures in two weeks.

Rice went the full 90 against Chelsea in the league, Napoli in the Champions League, and might’ve gone the full 90 in the narrow 1-0 win at Aston Villa had he not come off with a knock late on.

Graeme Souness Still Isn’t Sold On Rice

Ever since he joined Arsenal from West Ham and become a success on international duty with England, Rice has received a significant amount of praise from pundits across the country, but Graeme Souness still isn’t completely sold on the midfielder.

In a recent appearance on talkSPORT, Souness focused on a lot of the areas of Rice’s game that he feels he falls short in, going as far as referring to him as a 7/10 player:

"I think a midfield player has to be a bit of everything. When you have to, you’ll defend. If you’ve got it in your locker to be creative, you’ll be creative. If you can score a goal, which must be easier in the modern pitches because the ball is running true all the time on the edge of the box, coming on to it. I’d love to be playing today, and I think I’d get twice as many goals, the way the pitches are."

He added: "He’s a good player, he’s a very good player. You know...he’s a seven out of ten, every week, in terms of effort, in terms of what he gives you, but a midfield player – think of the word ‘midfield player.’ I think Declan, and he’s not alone in doing it – Jordan Henderson used to spend too much time doing it; playing too deep, or ridiculously deep – time and time again you find Declan’s being the last man, and when they’re in possession.”

Souness concluded: "To play in midfield, this is what Declan doesn’t have. You have to have a radar. You have to be able to know where you are every moment of the game. You have to have total awareness all the time, and I think Declan doesn’t have that."

Rice has made 163 appearances since joining Arsenal, scoring 21 goals and providing 32 assists. He played a crucial role in the Gunners' title win last season and has started this campaign strongly.