“I have never faced such magically talented player as him, he’s undoubtedly the best player I’ve ever seen”: Virgil van Dijk says ONE Arsenal player is the best in Premier League, even better than Palmer
Virgil van Dijk has admitted it was “easy” for him to lose his marker when he scored Liverpool’s first equaliser in their 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal an early lead with a smart finish, before Van Dijk equalised after losing Thomas Partey to head home a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner. Mikel Merino then restored Arsenal’s lead with his first goal for the club, but a late strike from Mohamed Salah rescued a point for the Reds.
Speaking after the game, the Liverpool captain said: “It’s a very tough place to come, teams have noticed that over the years. They have created a solid team and make it difficult for everyone. To come back twice is a good thing, we take the point – that’s the feeling.
“When I was marked by Thomas Partey, he only looked at me, so it was quite easy to get away from him. You need a bit of luck, and I was there to tap it in. I try to be important on every set piece we have.
“You play here, they create momentum, so you have to be ready to fight. That was the message. One point, we take it, we move now to the Carabao Cup.”
Partey was forced to deputise at right-back against Liverpool, with Ben White moving inside to partner Gabriel Magalhaes. William Saliba was suspended, while Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu were both out injured.
When asked about the impact the changes to his back four had on the game, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: “I don’t know, it’s what it is, we had five injuries in the backline, we have to adapt to it, we’ll continue to adapt.
“It’s a situation that we have, support them, praise the players because the courage they played today was unbelievable and keep going. Really disappointed we haven’t won the game today, I think we were better but especially because in two things that we had to do a lot better we didn’t and some other stuff obviously.”
Arsenal suffered two more blows during the game, with both Gabriel and Jurrien Timber forced off with knocks and Arteta offered an update on the pair after the game. “He [Timber] was so willing. The team and the medical staff have done a great job,” Arteta said.
“We gave ourselves the chance to compete. I don’t know the extent of the injury if there is one. The same with big Gabi. Continue to go. I don’t know [the extent of the injury] but he could not run. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if it’s the knee joint or the ankle. They’re assessing him now.”
