Van Dijk fumes over penalty call: 'There are 50 cameras in the stadium'

Virgil van Dijk questioned why Alexander Isak should have had to react more to win a penalty for having his shirt pulled when there are "50 cameras" in the stadium capable of seeing the incident clearly.

The Dutch defender was outspoken after Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Anfield, a result that sent Mikel Arteta's side three points clear at the top.

Kai Havertz pounced on a misplaced pass from Alisson Becker to put his side ahead in the 16th minute, and although Liverpool stepped up the pressure after falling behind, they were unable to find an equaliser.

Liverpool created significant chances during a lively first half, with Florian Wirtz's free kick coming back off the crossbar and Alexis Mac Allister heading wide from inside the box. The Reds also appealed for a penalty in the first 45 minutes when Jurriën Timber pulled Isak's shirt in the area as Bradley Barcola's cross came in. However, referee Andy Madley and VAR waved play on.

Speaking after the final whistle about Isak, who stayed on his feet and did not make an exaggerated protest to the referee, Van Dijk voiced his frustration:

"I think it was a clear penalty. I watched it back and I have seen these kinds of decisions given before. But today it wasn't given. There are 50 cameras in the stadium. With that many cameras, why should a player have to protest? Everyone saw it. In the end, the penalty wasn't given and unfortunately we lost the game. Congratulations to Arsenal."

Andoni Iraola echoed Van Dijk's complaint, saying:

"Especially Alex's (Isak) situation... In Gakpo's situation there was constant pulling, I understand, but Alex's is a clear penalty. You pull the shirt, we all see the shirt being pulled. Are you not going to give the penalty just because he didn't throw himself to the ground? I don't understand that."

Asked whether Isak should have gone down, Iraola replied:

"This is the real problem we have in football. The whistle isn't blown because he didn't throw himself down. The fact that you are even asking me whether Isak should have gone down sums the situation up; if he had gone down, they would have given the penalty one hundred per cent. It shouldn't be like this, but that is the situation. Next time the managers will have to tell Alex to throw himself to the ground, otherwise the foul isn't given."

It was a nightmare afternoon in attack for Liverpool. For the first time in 442 Premier League matches at Anfield since the 2003-04 season, the Reds completed a home game without registering a shot on target.

Having scored only four goals in five Premier League matches at Anfield this season, Liverpool have matched one of the lowest-scoring home starts in the club's history (they also scored four goals in their first five home matches in the 1913-14 and 2012-13 seasons). Despite that, Iraola insisted his team deserved at least a goal:

"We wanted a different result. We are to blame, especially because of how we played at the start of the game. After conceding, you have nothing left to lose; so we played with more freedom and more courage, and I think we deserved to score."