Welcome to the Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a mix of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔴 Rice plays higher for Arsenal🤕 Newcastle suffers Gordon, Hall blow🔵 Brighton's unfortunate defensive hero
Rice's attacking evolution
Arsenal was five goals for the good against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening, the game and tie, long dead, even if Mikel Arteta may not admit it, but there was no intake of Declan Rice. While David Raya claimed a cross in the 83rd minute, Rice saw another chance, another, to stretch their ragged opponents.
After he sprinted from his own box in half of PSV, Rice gathered the Worp from Raya and continued to the name rule. Looking up to see that he was alone, a player decided the nickname 'The Horse' by teammates who wondered about his endurance to give them the chance to catch up, which forced a corner and then walked towards him to take it himself.
The passage of the game emphasized how much rice this arsenal side gives. Two minutes later, back in the No. 6 position After he started the match at No. 8, he feeded Martin Odegaard to set up Riccardo Calafiori for the seventh goal, after he had previously delivered the cross for the opener of Jurrien Timber.
Rice was removed early after a difficult afternoon in last week's defeat against West Ham, but this was much more in accordance with his performances this season. He has been one of the few players who are impressed by a difficult campaign for Arsenal.
It was generally assumed that he came to play at the basis of their midfield when he made his £ 105 million from West Ham, but it is becoming increasingly clear that his future is further. His display on Tuesday was only the last example of why.
Rice had Wayne Rooney, a specialist in the field, lyrical waxing about the quality of his forward runs. There is still a need for more goals from him, but he would have had one to add to his earlier assisting, if not for a fingertip that has Save Save in the first half.
After playing mainly in the role of hold last season, the emphasis of this term was aroused. Rice has now started more matches for Arsenal at number 8 than at No. 6, with 45 to 42. He has 62 percent of his accents in the opposition half, an increase of 54 percent last year.
Those 45 starts in the No. 8 position have seven goals and 14 assists in total. They are encouraging figures and although the quality of his SET piece helps, good for seven of those assists, Rice's tireless energy and attacking instincts now feel wasted when they limit a deeper role.
Arsenal's disputed summer actions suggest that they see it in the same way, with Martin Zubimendi and Joshua Kimmich, two nr. 6s, under their goals while Thomas Pareny and Jorginho are preparing to leave.
Of course, Arteta still strives for the right balance on the left side of Arsenal, of course. There has been a revolution in the staff, both at the left back and on the left wing. But Rice looks increasingly comfortable when the No. 8 on that side, despite the instability around him.
He continues to excel from possession, but his ball-winning capacity is now used as part of the Arsenal press and helps them to suppress and suffocate opponents, as he did in the first half against PSV and even more impressive in the 5-1 win over Manchester City last month.
For all their problems this season, Arsenal remains one of the most effective urgent teams in Europe. Now that rice is playing higher, they have been able to solve the intensity even further.
Arsenal's PPDA, an important pressure metal that measures the average number of passes of the opponents of the team before a defensive intervention, has fallen from 10.5 to 9.4 this season, making it the joint lowest in the Premier League and takes less time on the ball for their opponents.
Rice's attacking evolution started in West Ham, where he broke through like a center-back and ended up in a box-to-box roll. But it now collects pace, his responsibility increased by the injuries that the front line of Arsenal have decimated. Expect it will continue on Super Sunday against Manchester United.
Newcastle hit by Hall and Gordon Blows
Newcastle, just like Arsenal, did not have the season they hoped, their problems were put together this week when the red card of Anthony Gordon during their FA Cup exit against Brighton was followed by news about a seasonal injury to Lewis Hall.
Eddie Howe now has to reconstruct their entire left side for a series of matches that starts football against West Ham on Monday evening and comprises the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
The couple will be a huge loss. They have formed a strong understanding since the introduction of Hall to the team at the start of the season and play an important role in both ends of the field. Gordon follows diligently to help Hall defensively. Hall returns the favor by offering a similar level of support to Gordon in Attack.
Hall in particular has been fantastic, creating a stream of opportunities from both set-piece situations and open play and also play a prominent role in the structure of Newcastle. According to Opta, he has been involved in the fourth most passing sequences that lead to shots among Newcastle players.
It will not have escaped Howe's attention that Gordon is at the top of that list, above Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes, and although he has options – Tino Livramento can go to the left; Harvey Barnes can intervene in the wing – the numbers insist the importance of the absence of the couple home.
Webster's Resurgence from Brighton
While his jubilant teammates from Brighton celebrated and in the camera in the tunnel shouted after their FA Cup victory in St James' park last weekend, Adam Webster was shown with a arm around the shoulder of Tariq Lamptey, comforting a player whose red card had complicated their task.
The video, posted on the social media platforms of the club, offered a glimpse of why Webster is described as an “incredible leader” by Brighton's head coach Fabian Hurzeler. His return to the starting line-up, after a spell outside the side, was the key to their recent revival in shape.
The victory over Newcastle was the fifth of Brighton in a row in all competitions after the humiliation of seven goals from Nottingham Forest on 1 February. They are the Premier League and Webster form team played every minute since replacing the injured Lewis Dunk during the break over the 2-1 victory over Chelsea on 8 February.
Since then, Brighton has admitted only one goal of Open Play, where Webster helps to provide the basis for a winning run that has raised them to the eighth, which is being transformed the feeling of their season. Look back at their campaign as a whole and they actually won one after all 10 games he started.
A thigh injury kept the 30-year-old sidelined between October and January, after a disaster point in a 4-2 loss for Chelsea in September, but he returned stronger, brings calmness and defense steel and leadership and left Dunk with a fight to recover his place in the team.
Player Radar: Who else should keep an eye on
I will see Bournemouth's defensive Wonderkid Dean Huijsen against Tottenham on Super Sunday and have dug up this week in his background in his background. Admitted by Jose Mourinho, compared to Sergio Ramos. A 19-year-old center-back runs heads.
Live Radar: What's on Sky this weekend?
Brentford host Aston Villa on Saturday Night Football, with cover starting at Sky Sports Premier League and the main event from 5 pm prior to the kick -off of 5.30 pm.
Super Sunday sees Tottenham taking on Bournemouth in the early game and starts at 2 p.m., with the meeting of Man Utd to follow Arsenal at 4.30 p.m. The coverage of that double header starts at Sky Sports Premier League and the main event at 1 p.m.
And don't miss the Monday evening football, because West Ham is confronted with Newcastle in the London Stadium, with coverage from 6:30 pm and kick -off at 8 p.m.
Read the last edition of the Radarkolom
Does Mohamed Salah have the best individual season in the Premier League history? The radar was again ahead of the curve and made his business for Liverpool about Man City. The form of Martin Odegaard and Emmanuel Aggbadou's Wolves Impact can also be seen.
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