Arsenal star Declan Rice shares what Mikel Arteta said before they beat Sevilla

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Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has now opened up about what Mikel Arteta asked of his players before their clash with Sevilla.

Mikel Arteta will be delighted with how his players performed against Sevilla on Wednesday evening. The Gunners were untroubled as they earned a 2-0 win in the Champions League group stage fixture.

Declan Rice was once again dominant in the middle of the park for the north London club. Playing in the more advanced left-eight position, alongside Kai Havertz, the 24-year-old helped to ensure that Arsenal were able to monopolise possession in the Sevilla half and keep the La Liga outfit pinned back.

After a difficult week for Arsenal, following defeats against West Ham United and Newcastle United, in the EFL Cup and the Premier League respectively, it was vital for the club to bounce back against Sevilla.

Arteta clearly hammered that message home to his players before the match. As Rice has now revealed, speaking to TNT Sports, “after the upset at the cup and the weekend, a club like Arsenal can’t be losing three games in a row. The manager made that clear before the game. He said we need to get back to winning ways and put in a high energetic performance.”

“Sometimes when you play against a back five it’s hard to break down but we kept the system and came through.”

Mikel Arteta got exactly what he wanted from his Arsenal players

Rice and his teammates certainly delivered on Arteta’s demands on Wednesday evening. The Gunners enjoyed 62% of possession in the match, as per BBC Sport statistics, and took eleven shots. Meanwhile, the visitors could only muster one shot in the entire match, which came from range in the dying moments of the game. 

Given disappointing recent results, it felt as though Arsenal were in need of a comfortable victory, and that’s what Arteta got on Wednesday. The only bad news for the Arsenal boss was that Takehiro Tomiyasu received a knock that forced him off at half-time.

Bukayo Saka also got hurt and was replaced late on. The Spanish coach will be desperately hoping that neither player is set for a significant spell on the sidelines. In the case of Saka, at least, there was an optimistic update on his condition at the end of the match.