Arsenal vs Liverpool: Slot supports Martinelli amid Bradley incident, criticizes dishonesty in football
Arne Slot and Mikel Arteta have backed Gabriel Martinelli following a contentious moment where the Arsenal forward attempted to roll an injured Conor Bradley off the pitch. In contrast, Dominik Szoboszlai, Roy Keane, and Daniel Sturridge took a more critical stance on the situation.
With a victory potentially extending their lead to eight points, Martinelli attempted to push the injured Reds defender off during second-half stoppage time in the 0-0 draw at Emirates Stadium. Bradley, the Northern Ireland captain, was down due to a knee injury and required a stretcher to exit the field.
“I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli personally, but he seems like a good guy,” Slot remarked, asserting that dishonesty harms the sport.
“The issue for him – and it’s a common issue in football – is that there’s excessive time-wasting and players faking injuries in the latter stages of games, which can frustrate you when you’re eager to score and suspect a player is stalling for time.
“Football, diving, and time-wasting have led to situations where players believe, in the 94th minute, this is happening again. I’ve witnessed it against us so many times this season that I can understand why Martinelli may have assumed this was another case of time-wasting.”
“I hope Martinelli has gone into the dressing room and apologised” Gary Neville hopes Gabriel Martinelli will have apologised to Connor Bradley. pic.twitter.com/ZDPQKXAij0— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 8, 2026
Gabriel Martinelli: ‘No intention’ regarding Conor Bradley
Arteta, whose team is six points clear of both Manchester City and Aston Villa after 21 matches this season, stated that Martinelli “probably didn’t” comprehend the seriousness of Bradley’s injury, who was substituted for Joe Gomez.
“Knowing Gabi, it’s not intentional,” Arteta shared with Sky Sports. “I’m unaware of what befell Conor – I hope it’s nothing severe – but Gabi had no intention of causing him harm.”
Former Reds forward Sturridge was less understanding, commenting, “I can see that maybe (Martinelli’s) thinking (Bradley’s) time-wasting, but one must possess enough self-awareness to recognize ‘okay, cool – the guy’s down’. It’s simply disrespectful – perhaps even worse than that.”
Seven-time Premier League champion Keane characterized Martinelli’s actions as “not good.” “You could see (Bradley) was hurt,” the Manchester United icon added.
“He’s not the kind to (over-react). If you’re looming over him, you’re unaware of the nature of the player’s injury. It appeared quite serious (and) he’s attempting to push him off the pitch.”
pic.twitter.com/NUVOT3mnAX— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 8, 2026
Arsenal vs Liverpool: Bradley injury ‘so much pain’
Szoboszlai insisted that Bradley was not attempting to remain on the field to delay the game, as Liverpool managed a draw that many had not anticipated against a team 14 points ahead of them.
“I noticed that Conor twisted his knee,” said the Hungary playmaker. “He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even contemplate rolling anywhere.
“I appreciate (Martinelli) wants to win – we want that too – but a player’s health takes precedence.”
Slot highlighted Leeds United as one of the teams that pushed the limits of the rules against his squad and accused West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta of “striving for everything” to earn a second yellow card for one of his players.
“I can’t expect Gabriel Martinelli – in the 94th minute, with emotions running high – to realize he’s playing (against) Liverpool,” he noted, elaborating on how his squad is dedicated to fairness.
“You can’t presume that, in the 94th minute, he thinks so clearly. I’m 100% convinced that if he had known what the injury might be, he would never have done that.
“However, it doesn’t look good if (Bradley) appears to have the injury we’re concerned about, needing a stretcher. We should wait for the scans. Hopefully, he can play on Monday (against Barnsley in the FA Cup).”
Liverpool came so close to taking the lead! Conor Bradley’s effort CRASHES against the crossbar! pic.twitter.com/ylmgvHplPs— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 8, 2026
Arsenal vs Liverpool: Premier League stalemate
Visiting full-back Bradley nearly broke the deadlock in a stunning fashion, striking the crossbar from distance in the first half after Gunners keeper David Raya responded to a hurried backpass from William Saliba by passing the ball directly to him.
After the break, Liverpool seized more momentum and had a penalty shout turned down after a Video Assistant Referee review regarding Leandro Trossard’s challenge on Florian Wirtz.
Arsenal will next face second-tier Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday (14:00 GMT), while Liverpool will host the third-tier Tykes the following day (19:45).
You can follow live updates from Arsenal vs Liverpool in the Premier League at 101GreatGoals.com.
Arsenal team vs Liverpool
Winger Max Dowman and defender Cristhian Mosquera (both ankle) remain sidelined for Arsenal, as does full-back Riccardo Calafiori due to an unspecified injury.
Forward Kai Havertz had been rested for the 3-2 victory at Bournemouth four days prior for workload management but started this game, along with Bukayo Saka.
Martinelli and Noni Madueke were relegated to the bench.
Arsenal starting XI: David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Piero Hincapie, Martin Odegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres, Leandro Trossard
Arsenal substitutes: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Eberechi Eze, Gabriel Martinelli, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly
Not to be this time for Dominik Szoboszlai! pic.twitter.com/IT3LgS2kbY— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 8, 2026
Liverpool team vs Arsenal
Jeremie Frimpong took the place of Curtis Jones for Liverpool. Midfielder Wataru Endo was injured and striker Alexander Isak is sidelined due to a broken leg.
Defender Giovanni Leoni is dealing with a long-term knee injury, while forward Mohamed Salah is competing in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
Liverpool starting XI: Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo
Liverpool substitutes: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Joe Gomez, Federico Chiesa, Curtis Jones, Andy Robertson, Freddie Woodman, Trey Nyoni, Calvin Ramsay, Rio Ngumoha
Arsenal vs Liverpool stats
Arsenal had won their previous two home Premier League encounters against the reigning champions, securing victories against City in both 2023/24 and 2024/25.
However, they were unable to achieve this feat for three successive league seasons, which they had accomplished from 1961/62 to 1963/64 against Spurs, Ipswich, and Everton.
Bukayo Saka missed the opportunity to become the first Arsenal player to score in four consecutive home matches against the Reds.
Arsenal secured their first clean sheet in 21 Premier League games against Liverpool, the first since a 0-0 stalemate in August 2015.
Only against Man Utd (30 between 1953 and 1968) and Tottenham (24 between 1955 and 1967) have they experienced a longer streak without a clean sheet in their league history.
This was the inaugural Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool on a Thursday, with their last Thursday clash occurring at Anfield in December 1947 (a 3-1 win for Arsenal).
Liverpool is the second team Arsenal has faced on all seven days of the week in the Premier League, following Southampton.
Arsenal had previously triumphed in their last seven home Premier League matches – only once under Mikel Arteta had they enjoyed a more extended home league winning streak, which was 10 consecutive wins from April to December 2022.
Against no team have Arsenal suffered more Premier League defeats than against Liverpool (26, tied with Manchester United).
Liverpool failed to secure a Premier League double over Arsenal for the eighth time, with their last double occurring in the 2021/22 season. Their seven ‘doubles’ remain the highest any team has recorded against the Gunners in the competition.
Published: 2026-01-08 23:57:00
source: www.101greatgoals.com
