Declan Rice is “one of the best midfielders in the world,” according to Jarred Bowen, ahead of Sunday’s game between West Ham and Arsenal, which has significant implications for both ends of the Premier League standings.
As they pursue their first league championship in 22 years, Arsenal will go to the London Stadium understanding that a win would maintain them ahead of Manchester City with only two games left.
In the meantime, West Ham is working hard to stay ahead of Spurs in the battle to avoid the last relegation spot, which gives the matchup a lot more weight than simply a London rivalry.
Bowen stated to West Ham’s official website that the team is aware of the risks in the home locker room. “It’s always a good fixture,” our No20 said.
“We’ve had some really challenging outcomes against them, but we’ve also had some really good ones in the same breath. “
“Two teams battling in different ways, but a game that is set up to be a really good game since we are fighting to stay in the league and they are fighting for a title. We’ve been good at home and we must keep up the good work.
“The pressure will be on both sides for various reasons, but as I stated, we have undoubtedly done well since the international break.
“You always have to keep pushing for more, keep pushing for that one extra per cent, and that’s all we know in the situation that we’re in and that’s what is going to be demanded in the game. The game is important.
“Like I said, we’ve had some good games throughout the years, and it’s going to be set up for another good game. ”
Rice was the subject of Bowen’s particularly effusive remarks. For West Ham, the duo has played together 142 times, including the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final victory in Prague, and they have also represented England 14 times together.
Although their friendship is still strong, Bowen stated that it will be paused for 90 minutes.
“We had a wonderful time,” Bowen stated. Dec is a fantastic teammate, but more significantly, he is a very nice pal off the field.
All of us were sorry to see him leave. When we accomplished so much, no one wants anyone to quit their football team, but he’s moved on and demonstrated his talent, becoming known as one of the top midfielders in the world, as I’m aware. At the time, he was the subject of many discussions among West Ham supporters here, but no one ever accepted what they had to say.
“But I believe that people have begun to open their eyes as he has continued, and they have come to see how skilled a player he is with what he has gone on to accomplish, scoring significant goals and having big games for Arsenal. ” It also speaks volumes about him that he has continued to improve and raise the bar. He is a fantastic, fantastic player who is always pushing himself to do better.
“Because people respect him as a player and as a person, he will receive a warm welcome, and he was captain when we won a trophy, but of course we don’t want him well for when we play him because we want to win! “
Recent history of this matchup favors Arsenal in advance of the game.
More than any other team in the Premier League, except Liverpool, who have defeated them 39 times, West Ham have lost 38 games against the Gunners.
With 40 victories, Everton is the only team that Arsenal has defeated more often in the tournament.
In their previous two away league games against West Ham, Arsenal has also prevailed, with five goals in the previous campaign and six goals in 2023–24. If they scored five or more goals in a third straight league away game against the same opponent, they would be up against Birmingham, the only English league team to accomplish that between 1957 and 1960, along with West Brom.
In October, Arsenal defeated West Ham 2-0 in the return match, marking the 12th time in Premier League history that they have finished the double over them.
With 16 doubles against Aston Villa and 14 against Everton, Manchester United is the only team to have accomplished this more frequently against a single opponent.
West Ham does bring home form into the game, having gone undefeated in their past six Premier League games at home, winning three and drawing three.
In their final season at Upton Park, between September 2015 and April 2016, they had their most recent uninterrupted home run, but Arsenal are now in a better position to win the prize, with Rice playing a key role in their bid to complete the task.
