Daniel Sturridge singles out Chelsea ‘beast’ who outshone Declan Rice | Football

Daniel Sturridge hailed the performance of Reece James in Chelsea’s hard-fought draw with Arsenal, insisting the England international was a ‘beast’ in midfield up against the Gunners.

A tense London derby at Stamford Bridge ended all square on Sunday after Trevoh Chalobah’s second-half header was wiped out by Mikel Merino’s equaliser.

Chelsea lost Moises Caicedo to a straight red card in the first half for a wild and reckless challenge on Merino – a setback that threatened to derail Enzo Maresca’s gameplan.

The sending off saw James moved into midfield, a position he has begun to take up more regularly with his club, turning in an excellent, all-action performance to help keep Arsenal at bay.

James gave Chelsea an outlet through the middle of the park with Arsenal struggling to keep him pinned down and held his own formidably against Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in the middle of the park.

Former Blues striker Sturridge told Sky Sports: ‘He’s become a senior player, he’s been at the club nearly 20 years.

‘He has struggled with injuries throughout his career buy no doubt he’s an absolutely unbelievable football player.

‘The versatility he brings to the team, the set pieces, he has all the tools to play midfield and right-back. He was an absolute beast today. He have them so much running power in midfield.’

Theo Walcott was also left impressed with James, believing Sunday’s performance proved he is fully capable of being Chelsea’s ‘leader’.

But the former Arsenal forward believes players like Rice will be disappointed they didn’t ‘test him enough’ in those midfield battles.

‘There have been questions in  the past, is he a leader, is he a captain. He clearly he is on today’s performance,’ Walcott said.

‘Playing against Declan Rice and having Caicedo next to him, he was player of the match.

‘In an Arsenal sense, they will be disappointed they didn’t test him enough. He was outstanding today from start to finish.’

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