Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek labelled 'the best midfield duo in the Premier League' as West Ham star gets Bruno Fernandes comparison

talkSPORT host Jason Cundy believes there's no better central midfield pairing in the top flight now, after they 'dominated' the Hammers' victory over Crystal Palace.

David Moyes' side continued their brilliant vein of form as they claimed a 3-2 win at Selhurst Park to extend their unbeaten run to eight games and move into the top-four.

West Ham's 21-year-old captain Rice controlled the middle of the park while Soucek continued his suburb scoring season with a double, taking his tally for the second to seven goals to make him the club's joint-top scorer.

And even former Chelsea and Tottenham defender Cundy was forced to admit they are one of the strongest duos in the entire top flight.

The Sports Bar host said: "Soucek and Rice, right now is there a better pairing in the Premier League in the middle of the park?

"I'm throwing it out there because someone has come out and said Douglas Luiz and John McGinn at Aston Villa, and I like those two, I've made it publicly known for a while that I like the spine of Villa.

"But I looked at Soucek and Rice… Rice was outstanding [against Palace], he absolutely dominated that midfield, breaking up attacks, setting up attacks

"Soucek has got a great engine on him, he can get up and down and has got goals - he scored the equaliser and the second goal was a brilliant piece of individual skill.

"Name a better midfield pairing, right now, than Soucek and Rice. They have been superb."

Former West Ham ace Trevor Sinclair agreed completely with Cundy's statement, and said Rice's performances this season have shown why it's so important for the club to keep hold of him, amid links with a possible move back to Chelsea.

"They've been outstanding," Sinclair told talkSPORT host Jim White.

"Declan Rice looks like he's going to stay at West Ham now, he's captain at 21 years old and he's absolutely superb.

"Soucek is the joint top goalscorer at the club, he's come in for next to no money and he's been a breath of fresh air.

"He's a humble player and person, he works his socks off, box to box, old school and the way he's affecting the final third and attacking for West Ham has been brilliant.

"There aren't many better partnerships in the Premier League at the moment."

Soucek has become a key player for the east London club since his arrival from Slavia Prague, with West Ham paying just £19million in a shrewd bit of business for the 2020 Czech Golden Ball winner.

And he has been hailed for his impact at the club, with ex-Hammers striker Carlton Cole saying he's up there with Bruno Fernandes as one of the best recent signings in the Premier League.

"Proud-for-pound Soucek is probably one of the best signings in the Premier League this season," he told the talkSPORT Breakfast.

"Obviously Bruno Fernandes has been unbelievable for Manchester United, but when you're talking about impact in a team, Soucek is definitely in that conversation."

West Ham duo Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have been hailed as 'the best midfield partnership in the Premier League' after the Hammers climbed to fourth place on Tuesday night.