4 months ago
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Arsenal star Declan Rice may have left as a West Ham hero, but he has revenge on his mind ahead of his return to the London Stadium on Sunday.
The 25-year-old has been nothing short of sensational since leaving the Hammers to join the Gunners in a £105million deal last summer.
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But despite being widely regarded as the signing of the season, the England international has suffered heartache in both of his matches against his former employers.
Rice was booed by a minority of fans in November when West Ham knocked Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup.
And he was then jeered and mocked by the travelling West Ham fans throughout their shock 2-0 Premier League win at the Emirates on December 28.
The result knocked Mikel Arteta's side off the top of the table, and having finally forced their way back into title contention following their 3-1 victory over Liverpool, Rice knows he must now get one over David Moyes' men this time.
Few would have expected West Ham to be sitting in seventh after 23 top-flight matches, with the east Londoners losing just two home fixtures this term.
The Europa Conference League holders invested brilliantly with their Rice money - signing midfielders Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse to help fill the void.
And the duo have slotted seamlessly into the team alongside Tomas Soucek, which has allowed Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus to be deployed in attacking areas.
Rice will have the tricky task of trying to control and stifle West Ham's new-look midfield in the club's quest to secure a first league double over Arsenal since the 2006/07 campaign.
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But with Rice now playing in a more progressive team who often dominate possession, the stats show he has blown his replacements out of the water to back up his player of the season shouts.
Though he hasn't provided as many goal contributions as Soucek and Ward-Prowse, with Rice not known for his scoring abilities.
Joe Cole is stunned by fans who criticise the job David Moyes has done and what he has achieved at West Ham United
Incredibly, Rice has completed 1,427 passes - nearly 1,000 more than Soucek [432], over double Alvarez's tally [668] and over 500 more than Ward-Prowse [873] has managed.
Of those passes, 414 have been forward - dispelling the myth of him being a 'sideways player' - with his passing accuracy of 91.4 per cent also seeing him top of the pile in two more categories.
It should come as no surprise that Ward-Prowse [48] has created more chances than Rice [19], with the former on all of West Ham's set pieces.
But what Rice lacks in creativity he more than makes up for it in terms of ball carrying.
His total carry distance of 5,357.6m is more than Ward-Prowse [1,862.8m], Soucek [659.1m] and Alvarez [2,413.7m] combined.
The ex-Chelsea academy man is also first for touches [1,846], progressive passes [78] tackles won [31], interceptions [33] and possession won [117].
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But the most important stat Rice will be hoping to extend is the amount of games won this season.
A 16th victory in the league could see Arsenal return to the top of the table if Liverpool and Manchester City drop points against Burnley and Everton respectively.
However he knows that his ex-teammates at the London Stadium - and his replacements - will be doing everything they can to show they don't need Rice no more.
After Arsenal's title challenge came crashing down at West Ham last season, Rice will be hoping it's a case of lightning not striking twice.
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