"Another player injured?" Van Dijk smirked on Sky Sports when asked whether Arsenal's mentality had changed due to "another injury" in the form of Gabriel. "Well, I think they only had two injuries today didn't they? (Calafiori and Odegaard) Obviously they played a very, very strong team."
While the Gunners were actually without four players through injury, defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney aren't quite on the same level as their other team-mates, having made just one appearance between them this season.
But with such a strong squad at his disposal, Arteta was hardly up against the odds with Calafiori and Odegaard out injured, being able to call upon the likes of goalscorer Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard as part of alterations in his team that saw Thomas Partey shifted to right-back and Ben White moved into center-back.
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