Gelandang Arsenal Declan Rice mengingatkan timnya untuk tidak terlena setelah menang 1-0 atas Burnley pada Selasa (19/5/2026) dini hari WIB, demi menjaga peluang juara Premier League. Dilansir dari Bola, kemenangan lewat gol Kai Havertz tersebut membuat The Gunners kokoh di puncak klasemen dengan keunggulan lima poin atas Manchester City.
Hasil positif di Emirates Stadium membawa Arsenal selangkah lebih dekat menuju trofi juara liga pertama mereka dalam 22 tahun terakhir. Kendati demikian, Manchester City yang berada di posisi kedua masih mengantongi sisa satu pertandingan lebih banyak.
Rice memberikan apresiasi khusus kepada penjaga gawang David Raya dan dua bek tengah Arsenal yang tampil solid menjaga pertahanan sepanjang musim ini. Pemain tim nasional Inggris tersebut menilai performa lini belakang menjadi kunci konsistensi tim.
"I don't know where we would be without him, to be honest, and those two centre-backs. I could speak so highly of the way they prepare, train and connect off the pitch. It's no coincidence how they work on the pitch. Massive credit to them for the season they've had," kata Rice.
Mantan pemain West Ham United itu juga memuji perlawanan ketat yang diberikan oleh Burnley. Menurutnya, sang lawan telah mengalami perubahan signifikan sejak ditangani oleh manajer baru mereka sehingga menyulitkan tim-tim besar.
"Since their new manager came in, Burnley have really changed the way they play. They made it difficult for City, difficult for Villa, and this was never going to be an easy game. This is the most competitive Premier League ever. I've never seen this standard in terms of opposition quality," ucap Rice.
Meski meyakini Arsenal sangat layak menjadi juara pada musim ini, Rice meminta para pendukung dan rekan setimnya untuk tetap membumi. Ia menegaskan persaingan belum berakhir karena segala hal masih bisa terjadi pada laga tersisa.
"Don't say that. Oh my god. I know how football works. There's a game tomorrow, anything can happen there. We can't get too far ahead. I've played in the Premier League for too long to know that things can happen. The only thing we can control is ourselves, go out there on Sunday and win that game. That's what we want," ujar Rice.
Rice menambahkan bahwa Manchester City di bawah asuhan Pep Guardiola tetap menjadi ancaman nyata yang tidak boleh diremehkan. Arsenal kini mengalihkan fokus penuh untuk menghadapi pertandingan penentu melawan Crystal Palace pada hari Minggu.
"I think we deserve to be champions, 100 per cent being honest. This season has been our season, but Man City are unbelievable and under Pep you can never rule them out. But we've put ourselves in a very good position. There's one more to go. Almost 38 games done and at the end of it you can say you're champions, but you've got to go out there on Sunday and perform because Palace won't be easy," kata Rice.
