Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is looking forward to the possibility of Declan Rice facing West Ham in Wednesday's Carabao Cup last-16 tie, describing it as a "beautiful" prospect.
The 24-year-old English midfielder made a high-profile move from West Ham to Arsenal in a £105m summer transfer.
Rice also served as the captain for West Ham, leading them to victory in the Europa Conference League in June. This achievement marked the club's first European trophy since 1965.
“It will be his first time back at his old club and a beautiful moment for him,” said Arteta.
“I had a chance to do it a few times and then you really see what they think of you and what you left at the club.
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“Every time you hear him talk about West Ham and what they did for him and everybody at the club, he cannot talk any higher of them, so hopefully they will be the same way towards him.”
Having joined West Ham at the tender age of 14, Rice accumulated an impressive total of 245 appearances for the club before making his move to Arsenal.
Despite their strong position as the second-placed team in the Premier League, Arteta opted to make eight changes for the previous round, securing a 1-0 victory against Brentford. The Spaniard emphasized that the Carabao Cup remains an important objective for Arsenal.
“It’s a competition we have the chance to progress in and win a trophy and our mindset has to be focused on West Ham,” Arteta said.
“I live it exactly the same as the Premier League. I have the same thing in my tummy and the same way to prepare and want to win the game for sure.”
Striker Gabriel Jesus will be sidelined due to a hamstring injury, midfielder Thomas Partey is unavailable due to a muscle injury, and captain Martin Odegaard is expected to be rested as he continues to recover from a hip issue.
As for West Ham, defender Vladimir Coufal and former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski are back in contention after missing Thursday’s Europa League match against Olympiakos. Coufal started in the 1-0 home loss to Everton on Sunday.
Currently sitting in ninth place in the Premier League, the Hammers have faced a challenging stretch, enduring four winless matches across all competitions, including three consecutive defeats.
“We definitely want to bounce back against Arsenal,” Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus told West Ham TV.
“The good thing is there are a lot of games and we don’t have time to be too disappointed. The focus now has to be on Arsenal, our next game, and how we do better.”
