Unai Emery has complimented David Luiz on a smart decision he made to avoid getting sent off against Liverpool last week, something that would’ve forced him to sit out the Gunners’ clash against Spurs this weekend.
Emery’s men suffered their first league defeat of the season last Saturday, as they were beaten 3-1 by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Anfield, as the Reds continued their perfect start to their 2019/20 league campaign.
During the match, Liverpool were given a penalty after David Luiz fouled Salah in the box, with the Egyptian then stepping up to convert the spot-kick just moments later.
Luiz was booked for this offence, however despite this, Emery still decided to praise the Brazilian for a key moment later in the match that meant the defender is still able to play against Spurs on Sunday.
In the build-up to LFC’s third goal, Salah skipped past Luiz before going on to slot home, and should the Brazilian international had fouled Salah in this situation, he would’ve almost certainly been shown a second yellow card.
And it’s this decision that has lead to Emery coming out and praising Luiz ahead of his side’s clash against Pochettino’s men this week.
As per the Sun, when speaking about Luiz, Emery stated “we can also talk about some good decisions and very good actions from him in that match. For the penalty he received a yellow, so if he had made a foul on Salah for the next goal, he would have a second booking. So he was intelligent and we can speak about his positive decisions.”
Luiz, who was brought in on deadline day from Chelsea, should be selected to start against Tottenham on Sunday, as the Gunners look to come away from the match with three points in what is the first north London derby of the season.
However, he wouldn’t have had the chance to do so had he not made the ‘intelligent’ decision that he did against Liverpool last week…