With Arsenal facing Chelsea at Standford Bridge this coming Sunday it is only right to look into the midfield battle of Declan Rice and Moisés Caicedo, as they are two of the Premier League’s finest. They bring very different strengths to their teams. Rice gives Arsenal power, control, and calmness on the ball, while Caicedo offers Chelsea energy, speed, and aggressive ball-winning. Comparing them shows how each player fits their team’s style and what they each bring to the role. In this piece I will look into the stats behind their starts to the 25/26 season.
Position differential
On the eye it is clear that Rice and Caicedo play completely different roles for their respective teams, Rice is given the freedom to roam and drive Arsenal up the pitch whereas Moises Caicedo is given the role of breaking the ball up and starting attacks. Looking at their heatmaps below, you can see how Rice likes to occupy that central left channel which he plays so effectively for Arsenal. On the other hand, Caicedo shows great positional awareness to constantly be covering the central zone to combat anything through the heart of Chelsea.
Defensive duties
Both are excellent defensively, but Rice defends with patience and control, while Caicedo defends with speed and pressure. When looking at their defensive duties, it is no surprise to see Declan dominating the aerial side of duels due to his increased height. Rice winning 67% of aerial duels compared to Caicedo’s 35%. When it comes to ground duels Caicedo has battled in 177 duels across the season with Rice only managing 118, however it is interesting to see the duel’s won percentage is only 4% difference with Caicedo pipping Rice by winning 44% of his ground duels. When watching Declan Rice for Arsenal he is often one of the first to engage the opposition when they build up from the back and this is seen by his average of 6 pressing duels per 90 compared to Caicedo’s 1.
In Possession
Since joining Arsenal from West Ham Rice’s attacking threat has increased beyond proportion, once playing as a central defender he is now often the driving force behind Arsenal and this is shown from his stats, he averages 2.54 progressive runs per 90, more than double than Caicedo. This is crucial for any team to have a player who can change defense into an attack with one play. Another differential is Rice’s 8.7 passes into the final third per 90 compared to Caicedo’s 6.21. This is due to Rice having more license to push further up the field to help with the attack rather than Caicedo, who often sits back to avoid any counter attacks.
