"Big things are coming” - Declan Rice makes confident claim about Premier League title race as Arsenal chase Liverpool

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has made a confident claim of his club's chances of challenging for the Premier League title this season. While speaking to Sky Sports (via Metro), the England international mentioned that the Gunners will be in the picture at the end of the season, and are not likely to give up anytime soon.

Liverpool are currently the leaders of the league table with 56 points, while Rice's Arsenal are perched upon the second spot with 50 points. However, Liverpool have a game in hand - a Merseyside derby against Everton on Wednesday, February 12 - and if they win that, they will go nine points clear at the top.

Arsenal, however, have not fared too badly and have been unbeaten in the league since November. In their last Premier League fixture, they created a veritable upset when they beat defending champions Manchester City 5-1. Nonetheless, Rice insisted that there is still a long way to go for the title to be decided.

"There's still a really long way to go. The manager said in a press conference the other week, no matter what, the only thing we can worry about is ourselves. But at the end of the season, we will be there," said Rice.

"We can only keep believing in what we believe in, work on what we're working on and have full trust in the manager, players and everyone around us that we can achieve great things. It's down to us to get that over the line. Big things are coming. We need to stay positive and keep going," he added.

Injuries will hamper Arsenal as they chase Liverpool

Unfortunately, Arsenal's hopes of winning the Premier League this season will be marred by quite a few injuries. With the business end of the league approaching, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli are among the biggest players in the squad to be ruled out with injuries.

While Saka is recovering from hamstring surgery, Jesus has been ruled out with ACL, and is not expected to return this season. Martinelli was the latest Arsenal player to enter the injured list when he picked up a hamstring injury himself in the Gunners' 0-2 defeat to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup semifinal on February 5.

In defence, both Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been ruled out with knee injuries and are expected to return only by the end of this month. This will severely handicap manager Mikel Arteta as he plots his team's rise up the table while catching up with Arne Slot's Liverpool.