Declan Rice's behaviour criticised as Man City face potential 60-point deduction

declan Rice was singled out for what one former player called “overly-emotional” behaviour after an error that briefly allowed Tottenham back into Arsenal’s 4-1 north London derby win, a moment that has sparked fresh debate about leadership as Manchester City remain under threat of a heavy points deduction.

Paul Scholes questions Rice’s temperament after the Spurs error

Manchester United icon Paul Scholes criticised Rice’s manner on a podcast, saying the midfielder “almost looks too emotional” and lacks the calmness of leaders like Roy Keane. Scholes highlighted how Rice, after urging team-mates to keep their focus when Arsenal first went ahead, made a sloppy mistake two minutes later by losing possession in a dangerous area and gifting Tottenham an equaliser.

Scholes added that he disliked Rice’s visible attempts to gee up the crowd just before Kolo Muani’s goal, arguing that while emotion has its place—scoring and celebrating, for example—game management requires composure. Rice held his hands up and apologised after the error and went on to produce what commentators described as a solid performance for the rest of the match.

The Tottenham moment and its match context

The incident came as Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners in the derby, a result that marked the club’s second north London derby victory of the season. Two goals apiece from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres produced the emphatic scoreline.

Rice, 27, had been seen pointing to his temple to urge concentration before being dispossessed while attempting to dribble out from the edge of his own area. Despite the mistake not costing any points on this occasion, it fed into wider concerns: Arsenal had recently dropped four points in matches at Brentford and Wolves, and the side have conceded 10 times within ten minutes of scoring across all competitions in 2026 alone.

Nicky Butt raises questions about leaders in Mikel Arteta’s squad

Former teammate Nicky Butt described Rice as a “big leader” and suggested his intensity comes from wanting to win, but he also flagged a worry about visible leadership elsewhere in the team. Butt noted that when Rice was dispossessed, "not one Arsenal player had a go at him, " and invoked a roll call of past club and league captains—Martin Keown, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Roy Keane, Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes and Eric Cantona—to underline what he sees as a difference in the current dressing-room dynamic.

Manchester City facing a possible 40–60 point deduction after tribunal

A football finance expert has claimed Manchester City could be deducted between 40 and 60 points if found guilty of the most serious allegations against the club. City and the league are still awaiting a verdict over 115 alleged financial breaches spanning 2009 to 2018.

The hearing into the supposed breaches concluded in December 2024 after a 12-week tribunal. The potential scale of the deduction was raised publicly as the process remains unresolved, a development that intersects with the title race: Arsenal sit five points clear at the top of the table after the derby win, while second-placed Manchester City have a game in hand and next face Leeds this Saturday.

Fixture and broadcast notes ahead of the Chelsea meeting

Arsenal’s next match is another high-stakes London derby on Sunday at home against Chelsea, a side they beat in the Carabao Cup semi-final twice earlier this year. Ahead of the new season, a broadcaster has cut the price of its Essential TV and sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, a move that was promoted as saving members £192 and offering more than 1, 400 live matches across the Premier League, the EFL and other competitions.

The same broadcaster said it will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more than previously scheduled.