{"id":35416,"date":"2025-12-27T13:30:52","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/27\/arsenal-player-review-declan-rice-shines-despite-new-position-summer-signing-remains-a-big-concern\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T13:30:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T18:30:52","slug":"arsenal-player-review-declan-rice-shines-despite-new-position-summer-signing-remains-a-big-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/27\/arsenal-player-review-declan-rice-shines-despite-new-position-summer-signing-remains-a-big-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal player review: Declan Rice shines despite new position, summer signing remains a big concern"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at home to Brighton on Saturday afternoon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gunners were not at their best but did what they had to do to get ahead of Manchester City again after their win against Nottingham Forest earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

There were highs and lows for Arsenal against Brighton, so read on for our take on each player’s performance…<\/p>\n

Arsenal vs Brighton player ratings<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

David Raya \u2013 8 <\/strong>\u2013 Raya was one of Arsenal’s heroes against Brighton, making the winning save in the second half against Yankuba Minte. A truly world-class Spanish shot-stopper who stepped up when the team needed him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Declan Rice \u2013 8.5 <\/strong>\u2013 Rice, removed from his right-back position, was in his usual fine form as he put in a tireless performance for the Gunners. The England international looked well-suited to the role, contributing defensively and attackingly, with his usual deadly set-piece resulting in an own goal in the second half.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

William Saliba \u2013 6 <\/strong>\u2013 William Saliba was not the most difficult match he has ever played. He and the rest of the defense didn’t have much work to do for most of the game, but they handled the ball with their usual calm and composure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Clown Hincapie \u2013 6.5 <\/strong>\u2013 While Hincapie has established himself and continues to develop, he also showed his versatility by moving to left-back following the arrival of Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es late in the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Miles Lewis Skelly \u2013 5.5 <\/strong>\u2013 Lewis-Skelly wasn\u2019t in his best form, but was introduced into Mikel Arteta\u2019s eleven until the final stages after Riccardo Calafioli was injured in the pre-match warm-up, and he may have played in a way he wasn\u2019t expected to start the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Martin Zvimendi \u2013 6 <\/strong>\u2013 Zvimendi’s performance was decent, but it was also a performance that perhaps showed that the Spain international has played too much football this season and is starting to get a little tired. Is it time for Arteta to trust Christian Norgaard a little more?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Mikel Merino \u2013 5.5 <\/strong>\u2013 Far from being the best back with an impact in midfield, Merino continues to prove himself an enigmatic presence and often looks more suited to play up front at this Arsenal, even if that is not the position he was originally brought in to play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Martin Odegaard \u2013 8 <\/strong>\u2013 This was more like Martin Odegaard of old, with the Norwegian scoring the opening goal well and linking up with his team-mates with smooth, sharp passes.<\/p>\n

Martin Odegarad praises Arsenal fans (Photo by Shaun Boteterll\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Bukayozaka \u2013 8 <\/strong>\u2013 A real threat throughout the game, Saka assisted Odegaard’s goal but was unlucky not to convert one or two more as he created so many chances for his teammates who misfired.<\/p>\n

Leandro Trossard \u2013 7 <\/strong>\u2013 A lively performance from Leandro Trossard, but ultimately didn\u2019t add much to the final product.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Victor Gokeres – 4 <\/strong>\u2013 Perhaps the most worrying thing about this game for Arsenal was that Victor G\u00f6keres played quietly once again. The Swedish striker missed one good chance, but otherwise struggled to get on the ball and complete basic passes, keeping him out of the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Substitute: <\/strong>Gabriel 6, <\/strong>Gabriel Jesus 6, <\/strong>Gabriel Martinelli 6<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at home to Brighton on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners were not at their best but did what they had to do to get ahead of Manchester City again after their win against Nottingham Forest earlier in the day. There were highs and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-35416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}