Declan Rice confirms that what Jamie Redknapp is saying about the Arsenal squad is true

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Tim Sherwood was so surprised by Jamie Redknapp’s prediction about what the Arsenal squad do when other teams play.

The topic surfaced on Wednesday evening ahead of Arsenal’s blockbuster clash with Liverpool. 

Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points, giving the Gunners the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points. 

With a night off, it would be assumed that the Arsenal squad would be doing the same as Gooners far and wide, watching their rivals struggle. 

That was, however, not the case.

Tell us the main difference between this season and last season but you CAN’T say squad depth

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Declan Rice confirms that Jamie Redknapp was right about Arsenal not watching rival matches

On Sky Sports, Jamie Redknapp was covering the Premier League action happening across the country. 

The results prompted Redknapp to discuss what Arsenal must be thinking, talking about whether Mikel Arteta’s players would’ve watched their rivals. 

“A lot of the players don’t watch it, some do, some don’t, but I’m sure they’ll wake up and see the result and think, cor.”

His co-host, Tim Sherwood, replied, “Do you believe they don’t watch it?”

“I think some don’t now,” Redknapp replied, and he was right.

Fill the blanks: Arsenal will get __ points from these games and Manchester City will get __.

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Hours later, the pundit’s interview with Declan Rice for Sky Sports’ YouTube channel dropped. 

Within the chat, Manchester City’s draw against Chelsea was mentioned, which is when Rice confirmed that Redknapp was correct: the players don’t watch matches.

“I didn’t watch it, no, I swear. I didn’t watch, I promise you,” Rice said. 

“Over the years, I’ve spoken to the boys about it upstairs. Loads of the boys don’t watch it because sometimes you watch something, expecting a result, and it doesn’t happen, and you end up just getting in a…that’s what I say.

“We’ve just gotta relax and let ourselves do the talking and just keep winning our games, there’s no point fixating on what other teams are gonna do.”

Matchday 21 could prove to be decisive for Arsenal 

Rice is right, and it’s good for the players, but surely, deep down, some members of the squad felt how we did, as fans, when matchday 21 was unfolding.

I speak for myself, but I know millions of Arsenal fans were the same, sitting in front of the screen, counting down each second of Manchester City’s stoppage time against Brighton.

It’s fine to act nonchalant, but we can’t ignore the picture that is being painted right now. 

Rice’s admission was expected, as mentality is everything when fighting for the league title, but we’d all love to be a fly on the wall among the Arsenal squad to see what really happens when Man City drop points.