Arsenal and Declan Rice have hardly had the ideal preparation for Sunday’s match against Chelsea, with the Gunners on both a three-game winless run in the Premier League and a three-game winless run in all competitions.
Rice didn’t feature against Inter Milan on Wednesday, due to a foot injury, and there are doubts over whether he’ll be fit to play on Sunday too.
Yet speaking to Freddie Ljungberg for Arsenal.com, Rice suggested the prospect of a London derby will help inspire the team to get a result.
“We’re ready,” Rice said. “It’s a massive game. Every time you play a London derby, it speaks for itself what it means. You never want to lose one of them.
“Last season we had good results in our London derbies and it’s going to be important for us this season as well. We know as a group of players what we can do on the football pitch.
“We can get three points, go out there and play well. It’s about doing it on the day. Chelsea are a really good team so we have to earn it, go out there and give it everything.
“I’m sure after the recent run of results we’re going to be up for it. We’re not going to need any extra fire to go out there. We know what we need to do.”
As for Rice’s chances of featuring in the match, Mikel Arteta wasn’t giving anything away in his pre-match press conference.
“I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity on whether he’s going to be fit for the weekend,” Arteta said.
“[Whether Rice has a broken toe is] for the doctor, what I can say is that he hasn’t trained yet and it is not clear whether he’s going to be available or not to play.”
Sami Mokbel confirmed for the Daily Mail on Thursday that Arteta was set to make a late decision on Rice’s availability, and that the player could still play against Chelsea.
The midfielder has also been included in the England squad for the upcoming international break, so it doesn’t currently look like he’s set for a rest.
