"There was no attempt to play the ball" - Ex-Premier League referee says Arsenal attacker should have received red card for foul on Liverpool's Trent-Alexander Arnold

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has claimed that Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli should have been sent off for his foul on Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold on Sunday (October 9).

Arsenal reclaimed the top spot in the Premier League table after beating Liverpool 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium. Martinelli opened the scoring inside a minute before Darwin Nunez leveled things near the half-hour mark. Bukayo Saka scored twice on either side of Roberto Firmino's equalizer to hand the Gunners a crucial win.

However, a major talking point emerged in the 22nd minute of the contest. Martinelli appeared to stamp on Alexander-Arnold's ankle as he followed through after sending in a cross from the left flank. As a result of the tackle, Alexander-Arnold was substituted at half-time.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett analyzed Sunday's incident and Emerson Royal's tackle on Martinelli last week. He asserted that both were red card offences and said:

"The game has to clearly see that this is a red card offence. On the left, that's a raking challenge where there was no attempt to play the ball. These are the challenges that we have spoken about and should be red cards."

He continued:

"On the left, he got a red card last week and on the right, there was no red card. The point is these are both red card challenges. There's no point raising the bar in refereeing. What you still have is a duty of care towards the players to ensure they can continue in the game."

Hackett added:

"We're seeing too many of these. We're seeing Trent Alexander-Arnold trying to get to the World Cup, not having the best performance on the day, and he's put out of the game by a challenge that should have been a red."

Liverpool will next face Rangers at the Ibrox Stadium in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday (October 12). On the other hand, Arsenal will next lock horns with Bodo/Glimt at the Aspmyra Stadion in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday (October 13).

Jurgen Klopp provides injury update after Arsenal-Liverpool clash

After sustaining an ankle injury in the first half of his team's 3-2 loss against Arsenal, Trent Alexander-Arnold was replaced by Joe Gomez at the break. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp shed light on Alexander-Arnold's injury after the match. He said (via Liverpool FC):

"[He] twisted the ankle, not good. Trent never, in seven years, went off if he could have played on. He was in too much pain, it started swelling immediately, so we will have to see."

Alexander-Arnold has scored three goals in 12 matches this season.