'It's down to us now' - Rice confident Arsenal can end trophy drought

Declan Rice says it is up to Arsenal to win trophies after falling short of lifting silverware in recent years.

Arsenal have finished runners-up in the Premier League in the last two seasons, finishing five points behind Manchester City in 2022-23 and two points below them in 2023-24.

The Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday, losing on penalties to Manchester United despite playing around an hour with an extra player, while their hopes of reaching the EFL Cup final look slim after suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle United in the semi-final first leg.

However, the Gunners are in the mix at the top of the Premier League this season as they chase a 14th league title, but they are given just a 9.9% chance of winning the title by the Opta supercomputer as they sit six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

And Rice says it is now up to Arsenal to show they are still in the title fight.

"It's been a good start [to the season]," he told TNT Sports ahead of their Premier League meeting with Tottenham.

 "Probably too many draws than what we would have expected, but we've still been really solid. Obviously, we're missing some key players, which has been tough, but we're still in there, and we're still playing well.

"You have to be on it all the time. We know now, going into the second part of the season, anything can happen. We just need to keep winning football matches, focus on ourselves and, hopefully, we're there, so we've just got to keep going.

"Last two years we've been so close with the Premier League and come up short. The fans are really waiting for that one now, and we really want to deliver it."

Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to the FA Cup during his first season in charge and has since won the Community Shield twice, in 2020 and 2023.

"The manager is unbelievable, he's given us everything he possibly can to go out there and win a football match," Rice added. "It's down to us now, we need to find something from within.

"The only thing missing is winning stuff with this squad, so hopefully that's going to come."

One of Arsenal's strongest attributes this season is their set-pieces. The Gunners have scored nine Premier League goals from corner situations, the most of any side. Indeed, five of their last 13 league goals have come via corners.

Rice has assisted two of those set-piece goals, taking on corner responsibilities in Bukayo Saka's absence.

"I don't get a chance to practice it a lot, it's more now knowing my spot and knowing where I'm going to hit it," Rice said.

"I feel like every time I put the ball down now, I'm going to hit that spot. There has to be the whole process, the timing.

"I think that's why we've been so good, because of the repetition and knowing each other's roles inside out.

"Because we have so many games a month, we actually don't get a lot of time to work at it on the grass. It's more seeing it visually and speaking about it, but when we do get a chance, say, three games a month, we will work on it. It's been a strength of ours, and we've scored some really good goals off it."