“First and foremost…” – Arsenal star ducks comparisons with Chelsea midfield machine

Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo are going to be compared forever, unfortunately.

They both moved from mid-table teams to top teams in the same summer, and both for massive £100m fees. They’re both central midfielders. And they’re both now in superb form.

The fact that they play each other this weekend means there’s a lot of talk about the comparison right now, and poor Rice had to address in an interview this week.

Rice claims he plays a different position to rival Caicedo

Moises Caicedo puts in a meaty slider. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

As you’d expect, Rice tried to play down the comparisons and the rivalry:

“First and foremost, I have a lot of respect for Moises. I have played against him since the Brighton days, since I was at West Ham. I voted him last year in my PFA TOTY, I thought he was outstanding last year, and he has started this year incredibly well,” Rice said.

“There’s so much comparison, but we are playing different positions — he’s a full-blown six and I am more of a box-to-box eight.

“Sunday is going to be an interesting game, but the most important thing is I have a lot of respect for him as a player, like Roy [Keane] and Patrick [Vieira] did. It’s an exciting battle between us, and it’s one I’ll be ready for, for sure.”

The hype is already building for Sunday’s game in the media…

In other news…

Chelsea played on Tuesday this week, giving us a chance to check out other Blues in the competition – like the sensation Dastan Satpaev, who scored for Kairat Almaty.

There was another good showing from a future Chelsea attacker elsewhere in the Champions League last night – Geovany Quenda got a start for Sporting against Club Brugge and looked excellent.