Manchester United legend Gary Neville has identified a single potential vulnerability in Arsenal’s squad, despite their impressive start to the 2025/26 Premier League season.
The Gunners stretched their lead at the top of the table to six points following a dominant 4-1 win over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring before Eberechi Eze stole the show with a sensational hat-trick at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have maintained a high level of performance despite injuries to key players such as Gabriel Magalhães, Martin Ødegaard, Viktor Gyökeres, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Jesus. Yet, Neville believes that one player stands out as irreplaceable, and an injury to him could significantly disrupt their campaign.
“The interesting thing is they’ve got [Riccardo] Calafiori and [Jurrien] Timber at full-back. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White are probably better going forward, although there’s not much between White and Timber,” Neville said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“They’ve got real options at full-back, real options at centre-back. The only player you’d be worried about losing for a period of time would be Declan Rice because you can’t replace that. That’s your Roy Keane, that’s your Rodri, the player that holds you together. There’s only one of them. You’d never be able to replace his ability to be powerful on set-pieces, his running, his tackling, his impact on the game going forward.”
Neville’s assessment highlights just how crucial Rice has become to Arsenal’s midfield stability, creativity, and overall Premier League title ambitions.
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