Mikel Arteta has been told Arsenal have the ‘best player in the Premier League’ after the Gunners continued their title charge with a routine win over Brentford.
Arsenal restored their five-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-0 victory over London rivals Brentford on Wednesday night.
Mikel Merino’s early opener and Bukayo Saka’s injury-time settler earned Arsenal their 10th league win of the season.
Manchester City applied pressure on Arsenal with a dramatic 5-4 win over Fulham the night before but the Gunners responded with a relatively comfortable win at the Emirates Stadium.
Stephen Warnock has been impressed with ‘a lot’ of the Arsenal team this season but says ‘outstanding’ Declan Rice is currently the standout player in the Premier League.
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Rice is enjoying a brilliant season in north London but left Arsenal fans sweating after going off with a calf problem against Brentford.
Giving an update on Rice’s fitness after the game, Arteta said the England midfielder would be assessed on Thursday, suggesting he is a major doubt for Saturday’s clash with third-placed Aston Villa.
Arteta will be hoping Rice’s setback is not too serious as Arsenal look to continue their faultless title charge and ultimately win the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
‘I could pick out of a lot of the Arsenal team when it comes to who I think has been the best this season, but Declan Rice has been outstanding,’ ex-Premier League defender Warnock told WhichBookie.
‘He’s the best player in the league at the moment. He’s been phenomenal this season and it suits him playing higher up the pitch.
‘He was a bit frustrated when playing deeper as a six last season, but now he’s got some more freedom.’
Arteta felt Arsenal ‘dominated the game’ against a dangerous Brentford side who had climbed into the top-half of the Premier League ahead of their trip across London.
‘I’m really happy with the performance, the win, the clean sheet,’ he said. ‘We faced a really tough team.
‘Brentford don’t need much – just a throw-in, a set-piece. They’re so good at generating this kind of thing. One-nil is never enough against them.
‘You always know you will be tested by them at some point. They generated some dangerous throw-ins and there was one big save we had to make from a corner.
‘Apart from that I thought we dominated the game and created the biggest chances but until you score to make it 2-0 the game is not over.’
Premier League leaders and title favourites Arsenal are five points ahead of second-placed Man City, who survived a major scare to beat Fulham last time out.
Aston Villa were also involved in a thriller on Wednesday – Unai Emery’s side beating Brighton 4-3 to climb to third in the table.
Chelsea had held that position but the Club World Cup winners slipped to third after suffering a shock defeat to Leeds United.
Crystal Palace are currently fifth but their last opponents, Manchester United, will move level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea if they beat West Ham at Old Trafford on Thursday.
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