Lewis Jones returns with his weekly notebook column for Betfair and makes the statistical argument for backing Declan Rice to reach 10 Premier League goals this season at 8\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rice registered just four Premier League goals last season, but the underlying evidence shows a player whose role and output are evolving. Signed by Arsenal for \u00a3105m from West Ham to play at the base of midfield, Rice has increasingly operated in a more advanced role. Arsenal also added two number sixes this summer in Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard, a sign that the club see Rice positioned further forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact Rice has started more games for Arsenal at No 8 than at No 6, with 58 to 44. Those 58 starts in the No 8 position produced 13 goals and 18 assists, a total of 31 goal involvements. At that rate he scores roughly every four-and-a-half games; over a 38-game Premier League season the numbers point to just over eight goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heat maps and the eye test indicate he is taking up more attack-minded positions. Wayne Rooney noted the timing of Rice\u2019s runs into the penalty box on punditry last season. Rice is also technically proficient in striking the ball. He scored two free-kicks in one game against Real Madrid in a Champions League knockout game and now holds the right to be Arsenal\u2019s chief set-piece taker, which adds a route to extra goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jones highlights Rice\u2019s capacity to learn and improve season on season, a trait reflected in his No 8 output and a reason to expect some upward movement from the raw projection. At the Betfair Sportsbook price of 8\/1 for 10 or more Premier League goals, Jones judges the market to be underestimating Rice\u2019s chance of hitting double figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lewis Jones argues Declan Rice at 8\/1 to score 10+ Premier League goals is a value bet. This season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,192],"tags":[253],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-arsenal","tag-declan-rice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1547,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions\/1547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}