Declan Rice comment before Carabao Cup final could backfire on Arsenal

Declan Rice's words before Arsenal's Carabao Cup final defeat will be well received by Manchester City fans

Manchester City possess the advantage of momentum following their Carabao Cup final triumph over Arsenal, according to Declan Rice's own pre-match comments.

The England midfielder had spoken ahead of the Gunners' 2-0 defeat at Wembley this past Sunday about the prospect of securing his maiden trophy since arriving at the club in a £105million transfer three years ago. The Carabao Cup would also have represented the opening piece of a potentially historic quadruple-winning season, with Rice maintaining the success would have driven the squad forward even more in their pursuit of glory.

He said: "Definitely, it could be the start of something. It is the first trophy that is up for grabs. If you win that, the momentum after that, that takes you forward, is massive."

Nevertheless, given City emerged victorious, it's Pep Guardiola's outfit who have instead received a boost regarding the Premier League title challenge, despite remaining nine points adrift of the north London club with a match in hand.

City securing the season's opening trophy whilst crushing Arsenal's quadruple aspirations represents a double setback for Arteta's team and is a scenario the players haven't necessarily previously encountered given their limited experience in claiming major honours.

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Rice took to Instagram after the loss and posted: "One final defeat doesn't define us. Only makes us hungrier to go on and finish the season strong. Thank you to our amazing fans as always. See you after the break."

Arteta acknowledged following the final whistle that his team squandered their advantage during the match and paid the price against the Citizens. The Spaniard said: "You can have momentum, but if nothing happens, that momentum will shift at some point.

"And it was probably in the worst moment when that happened and that's it, you have to take it. Sometimes you have to accept that the opposition was good in that moment. They capitalised and that's what you have to do if you want to win titles."

City could reduce the gap to three points if they secure victory in their game-in-hand and triumph over the Gunners at the Etihad next month. Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg cautioned his former club that their substantial advantage can rapidly evaporate against a team as accomplished and assured as City now appear.

Following Sunday's loss, the Swede commented: "It is a blow. The talk of the town, that's Arsenal. Arsenal are the new ones coming in. They are doing amazing in the Champions League, it was the quadruple, everything was going their way.

"Manchester City had a Champions League run, they've been heavily criticised, but all of a sudden, they demolish Arsenal a little bit. It was 2-0, they had the ball all the time and I think it's going to be hard for them.

"I think they feel they're going to win the league but if you look at this here, they're going to go to the Etihad and I would imagine City would be like, 'We'll take three points there!' Of course there's a break now but then they probably need to go clean [slate] because if City now gears up and goes clean..."

With the international break now in effect, both Arsenal and City will next take to the pitch on April 4 in the FA Cup quarter-finals. The Gunners are set to face Southampton away, whilst City will host Liverpool.