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Rice demands Arsenal up their game for City showdown
The Guardian
|April 17, 2026
Declan Rice has insisted Arsenal must be better at Manchester City on Sunday if they are to press their Premier League title claims.
The midfielder is conscious of his club’s curious situation: six points clear of City at the top of the table, albeit having played an extra game, and the only English team in the Champions League semifinals. But the mood is edgy and Rice is aware that the fans have concerns over the style of play.
The last few weeks, the 27-year-old says, have been a "rollercoaster", beginning with the Carabao Cup final defeat against City. Arsenal went out of the FA Cup at Southampton and suffered a sobering home loss to Bournemouth in the league. Before that, they won 1-0 at Sporting in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg and completed the job with the 0-0 draw at the Emirates on Wednesday, setting up a semifinal meeting with Atlético Madrid.
Rice talked up the positives from the second leg with Sporting, which came purely from a defensive point of view. But he was typically honest about the team's shortcomings on the ball, which have been evident throughout the five-match run.
This story is from the April 17, 2026 edition of The Guardian.
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