Virgil van Dijk and Declan Rice square up after Arsenal refuse to kick ball out for Liverpool injury | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk and Declan Rice were involved in a heated altercation during Arsenal’s mammoth Premier League clash with Liverpool after the hosts refused to kick the ball out for an injury.

Frimpong went down in the box under minimal contact with Gunners defender Piero Hincapie, suffering the nasty-looking rolled ankle as he hit the deck in visible pain.

Arsenal then countered up the other end without kicking the ball out for the downed Dutchman, despite vehement appeals from the visiting players to stop play.

This led to Reds skipper Van Dijk and talismanic Gunners midfielder Declan Rice squaring up to each other after the attack fizzled out, with the two players exchanging words before being separated by their teammates and referee Anthony Taylor.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk exchanges words with Arsenal’s Declan Rice (AFP via Getty Images)

Frimpong then received treatment from Liverpool’s club doctors, with slow-motion replays inspiring little hope that the wing-back would be able to continue.

However, the the 25-year-old surprisingly managed to get back to his feet and after a moment waiting on the sidelines, he jogged back onto the field to resume his outing at the Emirates.

Frimpong had appealed to referee Anthony Taylor that he was fouled by Hincapie, claiming a penalty was warranted, but the contact was not significant enough to spark a review by VAR.

Liverpool then had another penalty appeal waved away after the restart, with Florian Wirtz being brought down by Leandro Trossard.

While VAR this time did request a pause to properly review the challenge, Taylor’s initial decision of no foul was not overturned.