As the dust settles on Arsenal’s commanding 4-1 triumph over Tottenham, numerous stories concerning the Gunners have dominated the headlines. Mikel Arteta’s squad secured their second north London derby victory of the season in emphatic style on enemy territory, courtesy of braces from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres.

Sunday’s thrashing extended their advantage at the top of the Premier League table to five points, following a tense period in which they surrendered four points against Brentford and Wolves. Second-placed Manchester City retain a game in hand though, and next face Leeds this Saturday.

Arsenal’s upcoming fixture is another crucial London derby this Sunday when they host Chelsea, whom they defeated twice in the Carabao Cup semi-finals earlier this season. Now, Express Sport presents two of the most significant news stories surrounding the north Londoners.

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Scholes brands Rice ’emotional’

Paul Scholes has criticised Declan Rice’s “overly-emotional” conduct following his error against Spurs. Rice was seen instructing his team-mates to maintain their concentration after Arsenal initially went ahead at Tottenham, only to commit a careless mistake and surrender possession in a threatening position two minutes afterwards, handing the hosts an equaliser.

The midfielder acknowledged his error and apologised before delivering a competent performance. However, Scholes believes the England international still lacks the composed leadership displayed by Premier League legends such as Roy Keane.

The Manchester United icon said on the Good, the Bad and the Football podcast: “When Roy [Keane] was getting the team together and leading the team really well, there was a certain calmness about it. When I look at Declan Rice, he almost looks too emotional.

“He’s lively, he’s, ‘Come on! Come on! Come on!’ And then he makes his mistake. When you’re going for a league title, when you’ve got tough games, there has to be a calmness about you. I think potentially [he’s a captain]. It’s just when I look at him now, he’s so emotional.”

Scholes continued: “I don’t like all that (Rice geeing up the crowd just moments before Kolo Muani’s goal). I don’t like people being so emotional like that. People will call me a miserable b****** and say that you don’t want to take emotion out of the game.

“And of course we don’t, we want emotion but it has to be in the right way. Scoring goals and celebrating, that’s great. But game-management in game situations, there needs to be a calmness.”

A football finance expert has suggested Manchester City could face a points deduction of between 40 and 60 if they are convicted of the most severe charges levelled against them. City and the Premier League are awaiting the outcome of an investigation into 115 alleged financial violations by the club, spanning from 2009 to 2018.

Whilst the hearing into City’s alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations ended in December 2024, after a 12-week tribunal, the independent commission has yet to publish its ruling. City have denied all allegations.

It has now been 14 months since the tribunal, with the commission continuing its deliberations. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire estimates around 500,000 pieces of evidence were submitted by both the defence and prosecution during proceedings.

Maguire believes a judgment could be delivered within the coming months. He also noted that precedents from Everton and Nottingham Forest receiving six and four-point sanctions respectively for a single breach spanning a three-year timeframe could indicate City might face a considerably heavier penalty given the allegations cover a nine-year period, should they be found guilty.

He said on The Overlap Fan Debate: “I think you have to add a zero to what we’ve seen from Forest and Everton, so somewhere between a 40 and 60-point deduction would, I think, on merit, be consistent with what we’ve seen from other decisions on logic. If they want to go further then we don’t know the severity.”

Whether such a severe sanction will ultimately be handed down remains to be seen. Arsenal would be well advised not to place too much weight on the speculation, particularly given that it remains uncertain which campaign any potential points deduction would actually affect.

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