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Granit Xhaka was sent off for Arsenal in the first half of the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool for the most Granit Xhaka challenge ever.
23 minutes into the clash at Anfield, Andy Robertson delivered a stunning long pass to send Diogo Jota in behind and Xhaka, having been caught by the switch of play, responded by taking him out.
RED CARD! π₯
β Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 13, 2022
Arsenal's Granit Xhaka is sent off after a reckless last man challenge on Liverpool's Diogo Jota pic.twitter.com/n71xpYPzRW
Not only was the Swiss midfielder denying a clear goalscoring opportunity but his challenge was also a dangerous one and left Jota in some pain.
Michael Oliver had one of the easiest decisions to make and reached for his pocket straight away to give Xhaka his marching orders.
It was the former Arsenal skipper's second dismissal of the season, following his red card against Manchester City back in August.
New year, same Granit Xhaka π pic.twitter.com/KeSdo5oKSs
β ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) January 13, 2022
Seriously though Granit Xhaka has to have amongst the lowest football IQs in the top five leagues dude's up there with David Luiz.
β The Legacy Fan Offside (@LFCOffside) January 13, 2022
The more things change the more Granit Xhaka remains Granit Xhaka
β Kieran Canning (@KieranCanning) January 13, 2022
Granit Xhaka is becoming a walking, fouling, astonished-at-the-referee's-carding Arsenal meme at this point.
β Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) January 13, 2022
The most Granit Xhaka thing ever pic.twitter.com/CHeLEGhrgT
β Project Football (@ProjectFootball) January 13, 2022
The former Borussia Monchengladbach mad returned to the Arsenal starting XI after recovering from COVID-19 but he didn't last long at all on Merseyside.
Since he joined Arsenal, no Premier League player has been sent off more times in all competitions than Xhaka, who has received FIVE red cards.
Granit Xhaka has been sent off for the third time since the beginning of last season:
β Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 13, 2022
β 56β vs Burnley (Dec 2020)
β 35β vs Man City (Aug 2021)
β 24β vs Liverpool (Jan 2022)
Theyβre getting earlier each time. π pic.twitter.com/F09dKIGN1J
Arsenal had already been forced into an early change as the injured Cedric Soares was replaced by Calum Chambers.
The red card to Xhaka prompted a second substitution from Mikel Arteta as he immediately took off Eddie Nketiah for Rob Holding.
Featured Image Credit: Image: Sky Sports
Topics:Β Liverpool, Granit Xhaka, Arsenal, Carabao Cup