Declan Rice brought up his 100th Premier League appearance for Arsenal in the North London Derby at Tottenham, a landmark that underlines how central he has become to Mikel Arteta’s project on and off the ball.
Declan Rice’s 100th Premier League appearance for Arsenal was supposed to be a neat marker of progress, but it came with a reminder of the job’s unforgiving nature. In the north London derby, a rare first-half lapse in possession helped open the door for Tottenham’s equaliser.
Arsenal’s response was emphatic, yet the incident still mattered because it showed where the responsibility sits. When Rice misplaces a touch, the consequence is immediate, because he is often the point where risk is either absorbed or exposed. Rice has described the milestone as a checkpoint rather than an endpoint. “One hundred games for Arsenal in the Premier League is special... but there is much more to come from me,” he told Sky Sports, adding that he believes he can “go to more levels”.
The constant in Arteta’s midfield
Reaching 100 league games in under three seasons speaks to more than fitness. It speaks to selection. Rice has started 96 of those 100 Premier League matches and logged 8,376 minutes, a reflection of how quickly he became the default option at the base of midfield. For Arteta, control is not passive possession. It is about managing transitions and limiting the moments when the game becomes stretched.
Rice is central to that. He reads when to step in and when to hold, he closes space quickly enough to prevent counters from forming, and he helps Arsenal restore their shape so the attacking patterns can restart with structure. It is also why mistakes stand out. Arsenal’s balance is built on the assumption that Rice will usually be the solution.
The defensive base that makes Arsenal’s press work
The defensive output still provides the foundation. This season, Rice’s league totals include 51 tackles, 29 interceptions and 144 recoveries, along with only two yellow cards. Those numbers point to a midfielder who wins the ball frequently, but does so without turning Arsenal’s press into a series of cheap fouls and stoppages. Discipline matters in a side that wants to attack in waves, because it keeps the match flowing on Arsenal’s terms.
Not just a defensive midfielder: end product and set-piece value
What has shifted over time is the added contribution at the sharp end. Across his first 100 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, Rice has 15 goals and 19 assists. The season-by-season split shows a player trusted to influence more phases, not fewer: seven goals and eight assists in 2023-24, four goals and seven assists in 2024-25, and four goals and four assists already in 2025-26.
Set pieces have become a major part of that evolution. It is a repeatable source of threat, and one that can tilt tight games when open-play chances are scarce. Arsenal’s run-in will test concentration and clarity as much as talent. Rice’s 100th league game did not unfold perfectly, but that is partly the point. Arsenal now rely on him in the moments when matches wobble, not only to protect the team, but to reset it. If he continues to combine defensive authority with measurable end product, the milestone will look less like a celebration and more like evidence of why Arsenal’s season still has such a high ceiling.