Jermain Defoe says Arsenal have a midfielder who’s even better than Man Utd’s Kobbie Mainoo

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Arsenal beat Manchester United on Sunday in what was far from a vintage display from the Gunners.

Indeed, Arsenal weren’t great against United at the weekend, but Mikel Arteta’s side came away with all three points, and that’s all that matters.

Arsenal continued their good run of results against United in recent years, and they’re in a good position to kick on and challenge at the top again this season.

Speaking to Goal, Jermain Defoe has been rating and comparing some figures from Manchester United and Arsenal, and he’s made an interesting claim about two particular players.

Jermain Defoe picks Declan Rice over Kobbie Mainoo

Defoe was tasked with comparing players from both clubs.

Defoe had some very difficult decisions to make as he chose Amad Diallo over Ethan Nwaneri and Bruno Fernandes over Martin Odegaard.

However, he did give one Arsenal player the nod here as he picked Declan Rice ahead of Kobbie Mainoo.

Mainoo has previously praised Rice as a player, and these two have been compared on numerous occasions due to their respective roles in the England team.

Declan Rice’s stats vs Manchester United

Defoe was very complimentary of Rice when picking him ahead of Mainoo, but the England midfielder didn’t have his best game at the weekend.

Indeed, Rice wasn’t brilliant against United, and his stats from the game show exactly where he fell short.

Zero tackles, zero interceptions from a defensive midfield player isn’t great, while his attacking output was also lacking.

Of course, it’s only one game into the season, and Arsenal did come away with a win, but there are clearly improvements to be made going forwards for the Arsenal midfielder.

Rice was one of the Premier League’s best players last season, but he’s had a slower start than usual this time around.