Rice Leads Premier League Assists After Role Change — SkimNews
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- Rice leads the Premier League with five assists this season, the most of any player, all from open play after Arteta changed his role; the 27-year-old was also player of the match in Arsenal's win over Liverpool on Sunday.
- Arteta told Rice in a talk at the start of the season that he was no longer the club's "lighthouse" and that more was expected, promising to reveal a new nickname at the end of the season; Rice says the chat stuck and that he has tried to attack space for chances and assists.
- Rice has scored and assisted 55 goals since joining Arsenal in 2023, a return the source frames as underrated for a player whose reputation is built on energy.
- Arsenal's midfield has rotated more this season, with opposition managers telling Rice how difficult it is to defend against; with Bruno Guimaraes and Myles Lewis-Skelly alongside him, Rice has moved between anchoring the base and taking positions higher up the pitch.
- Rice has managed a heavy workload after 55 games for Arsenal last season, neural hamstring pain and an England World Cup run to the semi-finals; this season Guimaraes's signing has given him EFL Cup breaks and England rested him at the last international break, yet he has started every Premier League and Champions League game.
- Jamie Carragher called Rice "world class" and "the best midfield player in the Premier League by a long way", while Kai Havertz said 90% of his winning goal against Liverpool belonged to Rice.
- Arteta said Rice "wants to continue here for the long term" and that a new contract would be "a matter of time" to resolve.
Why it matters: Rice's five open-play assists make him the Premier League's leader and supply chance creation from the base of a midfield Arsenal has rotated. The hidden cost is workload: 55 matches last season and neural hamstring pain mean Guimaraes-led cup rests and England's decision to sit him out keep him available for every league and Champions League start.
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