Former forward turned pundit Troy Deeney has lauded Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice following his ‘excellent’ performance against West Ham United in the Premier League last weekend.

The Gunners have started the season with the ambition of finally becoming the Premier League champions after narrowly missing out on achieving that feat in the last three consecutive campaigns.

However, they had a slow start to this season and even found themselves five points behind title rival Liverpool. Following the Reds’ back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, the Gunners have placed themselves at the top of the table with a one-point lead.

Arsenal managed to come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Hammers just before the international break, with Rice and Bukayo Saka managing to put their names on the scoresheet.

Now, while creating the Team of the Week for BBC Sport, Deeney included Rice following his ‘excellent’ performance vs West Ham, and says that football has become easy for the Englishman.

Deeney said:

“Great goal for Arsenal against his old club. Gets his finish and drives the team forward but I think – and this is a compliment – that he can do more. Strange to say...