Arsenal are no better than Everton when Declan Rice is not on the pitch.That is the bold take of talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham following the Gunners’ shock Carabao Cup exit at League Two minnows Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.Arsenal were dumped out of the Carabao despite having many of their big guns on showShutterstock EditorialMikel Arteta’s side were dumped out of the competition on penalties after a tense 1-1 draw in a match that saw teenage star Max Dowman sent off five minutes from time.But it was the absence of another Gunners midfielder that was the most eye-catching aspect of the defeat.Rice was rested for the match at the Highbury Stadium and despite Arteta having introduced captain Martin Odegaard and £75million summer signing Bruno Guimaraes as second-half substitutes, Durham says the outcome only emphasises the England international’s importance to Arsenal.“I started to wonder what went wrong for Arsenal because they had a lot of chances, they had a lot of the ball,” Durham told talkSPORT’s Fiery Fridays podcast.“On the balance of play, 59 touches in the opposition box. Not that many shots on target (7), a couple of great saves from the [Fleetwood] keeper.“You could look at [Kai] Havertz and [Viktor] Gyokeres who both started. Gyokeres got a goal but it was really scrappy. He didn’t know too much about it.“Neither of them performed particularly well but I was thinking, how can this happen? This miracle.“It’s the preserve of English football cup competitions that the champions, who took PSG all the way to penalties, go to a side in the bottom half of League Two that aren’t very good.“They haven’t got particularly good players, lost to Exeter at the weekend, lost at home to Rochdale a few weeks ago and this side knocked Arsenal out of the cup. How can it happen?“I had a look at the Arsenal make-up and there’s one man that I thought was key to everything and it’s just enhanced his reputation even more by being there.Durham believes Declan Rice is now Arsenal’s most crucial playerGetty“And that is Declan Rice.”Durham then likened an Arsenal side without their £100m man to that of David Moyes’ Toffees.He added: “My hot take this week is that fundamentally, without Declan Rice, Arsenal become Everton. That’s what happens.“There’s some good players at Arsenal and there’s some good players at Everton. It’s not necessarily the biggest insult in the world “Everton are trying to get to the European places; they’re not a relegation team anymore but without Declan Rice, Arsenal are basically Everton.“You see, Declan Rice is underrated. If you look at his numbers they are absolutely phenomenal. His assist rate in the Premier League this season is incredible.Rice has registered four assists and one goal from 12 games this seasonGetty“If you look at his assists since he got to Arsenal they are amazing. His goal involvements, 50 plus inside three and a bit seasons. “For a central midfielder who’s not always in advanced positions the ground he covers, the knowledge of the game, the running of the game.“Everything about him is world class and we’ve been underrating him for a long time.“So in a week where we’ve had a Ballon d’Or winner in Harry Kane and in a week where Jude Bellingham produced an amazing bit of skill to get a winner for Real Madrid, we’ve got some great English players.“Declan Rice is right up there with them and I think without him, Arsenal lack something seriously needed in their team and in their midfield.”