Virgil Van Dijk injury will 'galvanise' Liverpool says Andy Dunn
Arsenal defender David Luiz doesn't believe there should be too much of an overreaction to the challenge from Jordan Pickford which saw Virgil van Dijk rupture his anterior cruciate ligament. VAR looked at the incident during the Merseyside derby in which Pickford hacked down Van Dijk with a poorly mistimed tackle and judged no retrospective action was necessary.
“But the most important thing is we have to protect football.
“Football is made to make people happy and we must play it like that - but also understand some contact exists.”
Arsenal have enjoyed a strong start to the season, particularly in defence having conceded just eight goals heading into the match against Leicester.
And Luis admits their improved defensive performances are a result of Mikel Arteta's work on the training ground.
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Virgil van Dijk is expected to miss the remainder of the season (Image: GETTY)
“We’re working hard, we understand what Mikel wants from us, we know how we want to play and have the right mentality and attitude. We want to achieve," the Brazilian added.
“The first defenders are the strikers. They have to do their job, pressing in the right way - and this makes things much easier for us.
“We have a great mentality with Mikel in this way. When we have the ball, we try to enjoy ourselves as much as possible and when we don’t have the ball, we try to regain it.
“It’s not just about defending the last line with the keeper, it’s about the whole team working together with fight and commitment.”