Declan Rice is becoming Arsenal's Steven Gerrard, but Mikel Arteta's "talismanic" star is missing one thing

Arsenal's Declan Rice is turning into the Gunners' version of Steven Gerrard, but he still needs to add one thing to his game to match the Liverpool legend, Gunners expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.

The £105m man registered his first Premier League brace on his 296th top-flight appearance on Saturday evening, propelling Mikel Arteta's Premier League leaders to a critical 3-2 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Rice clinically found the corner from inside the D after Martin Odegaard's layoff for his first strike, before latching onto Bukayo Saka's cutback and coolly slotting home first time into the Cherries' exposed goal.

Rice's camera-kissing moment evoked memories of Gerrard at Old Trafford in 2009, and while Watts believes that the Arsenal man is already at Gerrard's level performance-wise, he must become a 15-goal-a-season midfielder if he is to be recognised as the Liverpool legend's equal.

“When you've developed into the player that Rice is, and you've got the technique when it comes to hitting not just dead balls but open-play efforts, he can definitely score more goals," Watts said. "He said himself afterwards it's something he wants to continue to add.

“After the second goal when he kissed the camera, it immediately brought my mind back to Steven Gerrard. Rice is turning into Arsenal's Steven Gerrard. He's that talismanic, all-action, box-to-box midfielder, but what Gerrard did was guarantee you 15 goals a season.

How Arsenal's Declan Rice can match Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard

“I'm not comparing because I think Rice is at the level that Gerrard played at, but if Rice wants to become that absolute leader, the go-to guy, he needs to get to that Gerrard level of goals. I do think he's got the capability of doing that.

“What Rice has done is just grow each year. He's become a better player, he's added more to his game, and if he can do that in the second half of this season and lead it into next season, then you're talking about the top two/three midfielders in the world if he's not there already.

“I think he probably is, but if he can become a 10-15 goal a season man then he is at the very highest echelons of midfielders in world football.”

While Rice added another two goals to his tally at the Vitality Stadium - bringing his total to four for the season and 20 since joining the Gunners in 2023 - striker Viktor Gyokeres failed to fire in front of goal again.

The Sweden international had just one shot in the entire game - which was blocked - and only won two of his eight duels, losing all three in the air.

However, Gyokeres was praised on social media for his role in Rice's first goal, dragging a sea of black and red shirts away with him to create space for Rice to slot home.

Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal: Why Viktor Gyokeres praise was over the top

Nevertheless, with the ex-Sporting Lisbon man now boasting just one goal from his last eight Premier League games - a penalty at Everton - Watts believed that celebrating him for his part in Arsenal's second strike was slightly over the top.

“I gave him a six out of 10, I thought he was OK," Watts added. "Didn't really get a sniff of goal. He did well for the Rice goal, which is what you want your centre-forward to do, to occupy defenders. I feel it's a bit of a stretch to be absolutely celebrating that as the be-all and end-all.

“You want him to do that, but his job is also to score goals, and at the moment he's not scoring enough. I didn't think he played badly, I didn't think he played brilliantly. He played a good part in that goal, which is what you want, and he's an absolute team player.

“You can question the lack of goals, but he is absolutely a team player. He runs himself into the ground even when it's not going well, and if you're not scoring then you've got to at least be putting an absolute shift.

“I’ve seen the stats about how many goals Arsenal score, how many points they get when he's on the pitch compared to when he's not, but you want him to score. We signed him to be the killer goalscorer. It's not quite happening for him yet, hopefully it will soon. He definitely keeps his place in the team on Thursday, I think he deserves to.”

Arsenal go into Thursday's blockbuster battle with Liverpool sitting six points clear of Aston Villa and Manchester City at the Premier League summit, although their lead may be reduced to three points if both teams triumph on Wednesday.

> Click here to listen to the full discussion on Declan Rice, Viktor Gyokeres and Arsenal's win over Bournemouth