Ahead of Gameweek 10, a number of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are wondering whether it’s time to buy Declan Rice (£7.4m).
The Arsenal man is the fifth-most-bought midfielder ahead of Friday’s deadline…
Here, we look at some of the pros and cons of buying Rice.
REASONS TO BUY
Assist potential
Rice is a consistent Fantasy asset for assists.
The England international created Kai Havertz’s (£7.4m) winner at Anfield on Sunday, his fifth assist of the 2026/27 season so far.
It’s the second most of any player, behind only Pascal Gross (£6.2m)…
All of Rice’s assists have come from open play, albeit a couple of them have been simple passes out wide.
He is also top or joint-top at Arsenal for both chances created (17) and crosses (32).
A (mostly!) reliable starter
Rice has been a major part of Arsenal’s success under Mikel Arteta.
And his importance to his team is captured below…
A permanent starter in the top flight, Rice has averaged 83.6 minutes per appearance in 2026/27 so far.
And since the last international break, that tally rises to 86.3.
Corners and free-kicks
Another part of Rice’s appeal lies in his threat from set plays, which is traditionally one of Arsenal’s biggest weapons.
No other teammate has taken more corners or delivered more crossed free-kicks than him this season…
- Corners: Rice (23), Saka (18), Odegaard (7), Dowman (1)
- Crosses from free-kicks: Rice (6), Odegaard (2)
- Shots from direct free-kicks: Odegaard (1), Eze (1)
Although he’s yet to attempt a direct free-kick this term, Rice was his side’s top direct free-kick taker in 2025/26, with five.
Bonus appeal
Rice is also good for bonus due to his heavy involvement, i.e. doing a bit of everything, in the middle of the park.
His consistency in metrics like chance creation and crossing, helped by a role on set plays, is a key reason why he does so well.
But other tasks such as pass competition and tackling also help top up his BBPS.
Above: Midfielders sorted by BBPS in 2026/27 so far
It’s resulted in seven bonus points for Rice so far this season, the joint-third-most of any FPL midfielder.
Positional tweak
Rice is still playing in a double pivot, mostly with either Bruno Guimaraes (£6.7m) or Myles Lewis-Skelly (£5.3m).
But with Martin Zubimendi (£5.2m) playing less, we are starting to see Rice pop up on the right side a lot more…
Above: Declan Rice’s touch heatmap in 2026/27 (left) and 2025/26 (right)
Indeed, Rice’s overlapping run down the right preceded his crossed assist for Havertz on Sunday.
He also scored from this area of the pitch against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, so it’s a positional tweak which could have a positive impact on his returns.
REASONS TO AVOID
