Rice has been played as a left sided eight in recent weeks with Jorginho playing in the six role and the former West Ham man has revealed his preferred position.
Arsenal’s Declan Rice has opined why he thinks his best position is as a defensive midfielder as opposed to the attacking role he has played in several times this season.
The 24-year-old was deployed as the left-sided midfielder during Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Goals from Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka were enough to earn the north London side a third group stage victory, and the former West Ham United midfielder excelled in an advanced midfield role.
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Speaking to TNT Sport after the game, Rice appeared to ask Mikel Arteta to play more as a defensive midfielder rather than an eight because it gets him overly “excited”.
“I think my best position is probably as a No.6 (defensive midfielder). As a number No.8 (attacking midfielder), I do get a bit excited.
“My biggest strength is breaking up the play and taking the ball from deep.”
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Rice however insists that he still enjoys playing in the number eight as it does allow him to “keep running”.
" I do get excited when I play No.8 though. I get to show the other side of my game. I didn’t stop running tonight (Wednesday)!”
The victory at the Emirates Stadium was Arsenal's first victory in three games, following consecutive defeats to West Ham and Newcastle United last week.
Rice has revealed that Arteta had made it clear that he expected his charges not to lose a third game in a row, which rubbed on to all his teammates to deliver a victory at all costs.
“After the upset in the (Carabao) cup (West Ham) and on the weekend (Newcastle), a club like Arsenal can’t be losing three games in a row. The manager made that clear.
“Tonight (Wednesday) was a tough game. We knew what to expect and we knew it was a big night. We wanted to get three points on the board, that was key.”
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Arsenal are next in action against Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday.