Not Mikel Merino, Jamie Carragher thinks another Arsenal star caused Moises Caicedo’s red card

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Moises Caicedo made the headlines in Arsenal’s draw against Chelsea for the wrong reasons.

In the latter stages of the first half, Caicedo was sent off after VAR called Anthony Taylor to the monitor to upgrade the initial yellow card to a red.

The Ecuadorian’s red card left Chelsea with ten men for the remainder of the contest, but Arsenal weren’t able to make their man advantage count by the full-time whistle.

While the Gunners will be disappointed, there will be a sense of relief that Mikel Merino wasn’t seriously hurt after Caicedo’s challenge, a tackle that Jamie Carragher believes was caused by pre-match talk.

Jamie Carragher says Declan Rice might’ve influenced Moises Caicedo’s red card

Before Arsenal and Chelsea kicked off at Stamford Bridge, there was a lot of discussion about how Caicedo compares to Declan Rice.

The players themselves even got involved, as Caicedo made his admiration for Rice known.

While praising Rice, the midfielder said, “I’m going to fight. I’m ready. Everybody is ready. I’m looking forward to it.”

Analysing the game on Sky Sports, Carragher believes that Caicedo might’ve taken the discussion too personally, suggesting that Rice comparisons ‘got to’ the 24-year-old.

“He was really pumped up. I think we saw that right from the start of the game. I think the whole talk this week, of you know, Rice v Caicedo, understandably so, maybe got to him a little bit.”

Carragher went on to ponder why the Chelsea star was where he was when the challenge on Merino was made, calling his actions ‘daft’.

“It’s a huge game, and he’s ended up getting himself involved in a challenge. Yes, it’s a red card, but where he comes from, the angle of the challenge is just daft to get involved in a tackle like that.”

There were few surprises that Caicedo was shown a red card after the challenge, with even Enzo Maresca agreeing that his dismissal was correct.

What Declan Rice said about Caicedo before the game

Caicedo has been one of the best midfielders in Europe so far this season, but there’s reason to believe that comparisons to Rice fuelled him too much.

Before the game, the two players spoke highly of each other, with the game very much set up to be a blockbuster that the two midfielders starred in.

Rice was very complimentary of Caicedo pre-match, revealing that he voted for the Ecuador international in his PFA Team of the Year, but made it clear the comparisons made no sense.

“There’s so much comparison, but we are playing different positions. He’s a full-blown six, and I am more of a box-to-box eight,” Rice said.

“Sunday is going to be an interesting game, but the most important thing is that I have a lot of respect for him as a player, like Roy [Keane] and Patrick [Vieira] did.”

It wasn’t the battle between the two players that fans would’ve expected, as Caicedo’s match ended shortly after it started.