Declan Rice has his best opportunity yet to go volcanic against Liverpool

Heading into the Anfield fixture, Arsenal fans were eagerly awaiting any news on Declan Rice's return. The England midfielder faced a race against time to be fit to travel to Liverpool, but he's travelled, been involved in training, and he was even seen on Arsenal's squad walk this morning.

Having Rice back and ready to play is a huge boost for Arsenal. He is undoubtedly the club's most important player, and despite Arsenal investing more in their midfield recently, the fact that Arsenal are a better team with Rice remains the same.

He could prove his worth yet again at Anfield.

Declan Rice has a great midfield opportunity against Liverpool

Liverpool's midfield is their weak point. Dominik Szoboszlai is, without a doubt, their strongest midfielder; however, it remains to be seen whether he will play. If he does make the squad, it's unlikely he'll start.

This leaves Liverpool with a likely midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz. On their day, each of the three midfielders can show up, but let's face it, this is far from Liverpool's ideal midfield.

Declan Rice's record vs Liverpool while playing for Arsenal

Games played: 5

Wins: 1

Draws: 3

Losses: 1

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

Declan Rice will be responsible for handling Florian Wirtz, which, if recent history is anything to go by, is the easiest job in the world. Wirtz shouldn't be a match for Rice, so hopefully we will see a freed up Rice, which is always a delight to watch.

Rice is seriously underrated in the final third. We don't get to see it as often as we'd like, but when the midfield battle is won, you always know he's about to cause mayhem when he runs forward.

Nobody is more purposeful in their stride than Rice. He has one thing on his mind, and that's for Arsenal to score in one way or another, and we saw how those runs from midfield helped Arsenal at the Allianz Arena.

All things considered, Arsenal have the stronger defence and midfield, but nobody can deny Liverpool has the stronger attack. This game could go anywhere, but one thing we know for sure is that Rice will play his part - we can only hope it's to Arsenal's benefit.