Mikel Arteta robbed of crucial Arsenal weapon after Declan Rice red card ahead of Tottenham

It was the moment that defined Arsenal’s clash with Brighton on Saturday. The Gunners were a goal up and looked as though they were on course to add a second – then Declan Rice was shown a second yellow card.

The decision is still the subject of debate today. The near unanimous verdict has been that, while Rice was at fault for touching the ball away when Joel Veltman was looking to take a quick free kick, it was supremely harsh to show him a second yellow for what was a minor offence in the grand scheme of things.

To make matters worse, Joao Pedro avoided a booking for a similar offence in the first half as he kicked the ball away to prevent Arsenal from taking a quick throw in. It was this that irked Mikel Arteta most after the game.

“I was amazed,” the Spaniard said in his post-match press conference. “Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan (on the back of his leg), he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.

“By law, he can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10vs10. This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.”

Arsenal went on to draw the game 1-1, but the implications from Chris Kavanaugh’s decision don’t stop there. Rice is now suspended for the Gunners’ first game back after the international break, which just so happens to be the North London Derby.

With Mikel Merino’s injury, Arsenal do not have a natural replacement for Rice in that left eight role. Jorginho could well come in to start, while dropping Kai Havertz back from centre forward or moving Leandro Trossard in from the left wing are options. None are ideal though. The problems don’t end there.

Rice has established himself as a crucial weapon for Arsenal from set pieces. The England international picked up two assists during the Emirates Cup victory over Lyon last month from corners and grabbed one during last season’s 3-2 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In fact, Arsenal scored from two set pieces on the day as they exploited a weakness in the Spurs’ defence.

Arsenal do have the impressive delivery of Bukayo Saka, while Trossard can whip in a mean corner. But while Guglielmo Vicario remains unconvincing in dead ball scenarios the Gunners will be gutted not to have Rice’s pin point delivery to call upon in two weeks time.