Gary Neville criticised Arsenal defender Gabriel as “embarrassing” following an early incident during the Premier League match against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
The Brazilian was restored to the Arsenal starting line-up after being rested for the Carabao Cup fourth round exit to Fleetwood Town in midweek. Gabriel went to ground clutching his face in the third minute while tasked with marking Alexander Isak, leading to suggestions he had been caught by the Swedish forward. Replays showed the contact was to his chest instead.
Neville's Commentary Criticism
“Gabriel does let himself down at times. I love his passion and tenacity,” Neville said on commentary for Sky Sports. “But there's a push into his upper chest and goes down holding his face. It's embarrassing. He's got to stop doing that.”
Gabriel has never been on the winning side for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield. The Gunners' last victory in this fixture came in 2012, when current manager Mikel Arteta was still an active player.
Arteta's Pre-Match Message
“It’s an opportunity. I came here [to Arsenal] and in many places we were 20, 22 years, 18 years without winning, and we’ve been doing all these things, so on Sunday, that’s the opportunity that we have,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference. “We're going there with full conviction; that's number one, and we've been very, very close in the last few years to win. But something is missed, and that's what we've been discussing the last few days. To go there with a real purpose. To hurt them and get away from there with a victory.”
