Rice scored two stunning free kicks as Arsenal secured a 3-0 victory in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday."I have always said Rice has the potential to be the great English midfielder of his generation, and he showed why," Carragher wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
"Too often he seems to be criticised for not scoring or creating enough goals, when that is not his primary function.
"He does not play in the same attacking midfield position as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in their prime. To me, Rice has always been more of a Roy Keane, who scored 57 across his 473 senior club games.
"If Arsenal go through, Rice’s contribution over both legs will rightly be as revered by his supporters as much as Keane’s for United against Juventus in 1999."