Three Things We Learned this week as Arsenal gear up for big Chelsea clash  

Declan is dynamite as Arsenal outclass Bayern ahead of Stamford Bridge showdown 

Declan Rice shines to end Bayern’s unbeaten start to the season as Gunners gear up for for crunch Chelsea challenge 

 - Declan shines

It Is not easy joining a new club as their record signing and especially when your transfer fee exceeds £100m. However, the price of Declan Rice is never mentioned such has been the fantastic consistency he has shown in an Arsenal shirt.

I have written before in this column how I always thought he was a good midfielder at West Ham however I did not realise just how good.

He is without doubt one of the best midfielders in World football on his current form and I would not swap him for any other player in his position.

The scary thing for our opponents is that he is getting even better. In this game all his attributes were on show, the dogged defensive work, covering every blade of grass as well as embarking on those powerful runs, one of which saw his shot well saved by Manuel Neuer.

Once Bukayo Saka was substituted in the second half, Rice was given the armband (something many Gooners and neutrals alike think is an inevitability).

For my money, I would keep Martin Odegaard as Captain as he is a wonderful player however Rice already leads the team by example – he does not need the armband to continue to do that.

2 - Full backs phenomenal:

– Jurrien Timber is having a tremendous campaign and whilst he was already a very solid defender, he has now added an attacking impetus to his game and goals too. His great flicked header opened the scoring here to register his third goal of the season.

He has built a brilliant understanding down the right-hand side with Saka and is keeping Ben White out of the side which is no mean feat given the quality of the Englishman.

On the other side Riccardo Calafiori is enjoying an equally stellar run. Within minutes of coming off the bench he delivered a fine ball into the box which allowed Noni Madueke to score his first Arsenal goal.

Calafiori of course is keeping Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the side, and it is superb to think the club has such quality to call on at full back.

3 - Squad strength shines through again:

– we started this fixture with several key components missing from the spine of the team – no Gabriel in defence, no Odegaard in midfield and no Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Jesus, Gabi Martinelli or Noni Madueke and we gave another impressive display to end their 18-game unbeaten run since the start of the season.

In so doing we also helped to erase memories of those consecutive 5-1 hammerings by the same opponents in this competition. Madueke and Martinelli both rose from the bench to score, for Madueke it was his first Gunners goal and for Martinelli his fourth in Europe already.

Cristhian Mosquera was a very able deputy for Gabriel in the back four whilst Mikel Merino continues to shine as the focal attacking point in the absence of all our main striker options.

This victory was our fifth consecutive one in the Champions League and took us top of that table whilst also being top of the Premier League.

This was some win after the emphatic success in the North London Derby and eyes now turn to Stamford Bridge and Chelsea on Sunday as we look to end a perfect week.