Jorginho’s one-word verdict on Declan Rice Arsenal red card as North London Derby vow made

Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has pointed to the inconsistency in decisions throughout the game when talking about Declan Rice’s red card against Brighton. It’s a situation he described as ‘mad’.

Rice will serve a one-match suspension for the North London Derby over the weekend after being shown a second yellow card in the second half of the 1-1 draw against the Seagulls. He was cautioned for failing to retreat from a Brighton free-kick.

“It was mad,” Jorginho said on the Seaman Says podcast via Betway when the incident was mentioned, before referencing another incident earlier in the game when Brighton’s Joao Pedro wasn’t booked for kicking the ball away. "You talk about ‘the law’, but something else happened in the game, didn’t it? Like, if [the law] is there, it’s there for both of us.

"It’s tough. Of course, they are human, but some things are so clear. We talk about handling the frustration and controlling the emotion, but sometimes it's really hard. It is what it is, sometimes, and you just need to move on and try to get better."

For Jorginho, the red card, and subsequent suspension for Rice means that he could be drafted into the starting line-up for the North London Derby. When it was mentioned that it leaves the door open for him, he laughed and said: “You’ll have to ask Mikel (Arteta) that.”

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But the midfielder is expecting an occasion to remember, adding: “It’s a special game for both sides, it’s possibly going to be a really, really good game.”

Arsenal will also be without new signing Mikel Merino for the game with the midfielder recovering from a shoulder injury. Fellow midfielder and club captain Martin Odegaard is expected to be out too after picking up an ankle injury in Norway’s Nations League clash against Austria on Tuesday night.