Moises Caicedo let Declan Rice comparisons affect him, says Jamie Carragher

Moises Caicedo was impacted by comparisons with Arsenal's Declan Rice ahead of his red card against the Gunners, says Jamie Carragher.

Caicedo was shown the first red card of his Chelsea career in the Stamford Bridge showdown for a dangerous challenge on Mikel Merino, in an unsavoury end to a week which had seen a 'Caicedo vs Rice' narrative formed around the Super Sunday contest.

Speaking on Super Sunday: Extra Time, Carragher said the noise around the game may have affected 24 year-old Caicedo, who appeared particularly energetic before his dismissal and was lucky not to receive an earlier booking for a shoulder charge on Jurrien Timber.

"He was really pumped up, I think we saw that right from the start of the game," Carragher said. "I think the whole talk this week of Rice vs Caicedo maybe got to him, understandably so.

"It's a huge game, and he ends up getting himself involved in a challenge. Yes, it's a red card, but it's just daft to get involved in a tackle like that. He doesn't need to.

"He's a brilliant player. He wins the ball back fantastically well, but I think he does have a tendency where he can look clumsy with some of the angles he can come in with, and I'm quite surprised that this is only his first red card.

"I remember a challenge in the Carabao Cup final against [Ryan] Gravenberch a couple of years ago as well. It's not because he's a nasty player but that was a case in point really, where he ends up facing his own goal to win a challenge, where basically he's got someone else coming behind him, and he just doesn't need to get involved.

"He's just got to be careful with that. He's a fantastic player, but he definitely needs to learn from that. I'm sure the manager will speak to him if he's come out and said it was a definite red card, and that's really good to hear."

Chelsea boss Maresca felt Piero Hincapie should have joined Caicedo in being sent off for a second-half elbow on goalscorer Trevoh Chalobah.

Chelsea captain Reece James said in his interview to Sky Sports that he felt there "should have been another red" for Arsenal and Maresca revealed he asked Anthony Taylor's decision why he kept Hincapie on the pitch.

Sky Sports commentators said during the match that VAR officials deemed the decision to not send the Arsenal defender off correct as Hincapie's eyes were on the ball.

"I think Reece is right, but they decide," said Maresca in his post-match press conference. "I asked the referee, he said to me that it was not an elbow. This is what they said.

"He has a black eye here, like this. It was with ice at half-time. But they judge in different way."

Maresca also took issue with the consistency around Caicedo's red card - claiming it was identical to Rodrigo Bentacur's challenge for Spurs in their defeat to Chelsea at the start of November. Bentancur avoided a red card after VAR checked the challenge.

The Italian agreed that Caicedo should have been sent off, but did not like the lack of consistency in the Premier League.

"It's a red card," said Maresca about the Caicedo challenge. "But why Bentancur against Reece was not red card when we played Spurs away?

"So as managers, we struggle to understand why they judge in a different way.

"Moi is a red card, yes. Bentancur is red card, yes. Why don't they give them [both] red cards? It's just that we struggle to understand.

"The reality is that it's red card. But why they judge in different way?"

IN PICTURES: Hincapie's challenge on Chalobah

Merino: Caicedo tackle was a horrible challenge

Arsenal midfielder Merino felt the full force of Caicedo's challenge - and the Spaniard said he immediately knew it was a sending off.

Referee Anthony Taylor initially gave Caicedo a booking but was sent to the VAR monitor to check the challenge, before upgrading it to a red card due to "excessive force".

"I felt my ankle go all the way," said Merino to Sky Sports. "But luckily, I have very mobile ankles and body so I wasn't concerned about myself.

"But I knew it was a horrible challenge and a red card straight away."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta added: "It was really fast in the beginning. I saw the reaction and everybody was saying 'he's off'.

"Anthony [Taylor, the referee] made a call and I think it's the right one."