Arsenal to appeal Luiz's red card against Wolves

Arsenal will launch an appeal against David Luiz's red card against Wolves, Goal can confirm.

Luiz was given his marching orders after referee Craig Pawson decided that contact had been made with Willian Jose in the box at Molineux just before half-time, with Ruben Neves stepping up to score the resulting penalty.

Nicolas Pepe had given the Gunners the lead with a superb 32nd-minute opener only for Neves's penalty and a superb long-range strike from Joao Moutinho to hand the hosts the win.

Goal can confirm that the north Londoners will be appealing Luiz's sending off as they believe the Brazilian's challenge was accidental and that Luiz was clearly trying to avoid any contact with Jose before the striker went down.

Arsenal have studied the footage closely and are adamant that if there was any contact, it was minimal, so the north London club do not feel that the incident was even worthy of a foul.

Arteta voiced his frustration over the decision post-match, telling reporters: "I've seen it 10 times in different angles and I cannot tell you where the contact is."

Asked if the club would seek to have the red card overturned, the Spaniard responded: "I would say yes, let's go straight away, but we have to speak and make the decision [about] what's the best thing to do.

"If they have another 50 different angles to watch it, maybe I will be surprised. To play with 10 men for 45 minutes in the Premier League without your centre-back, against this opposition, of course, it changes the game.

"It was a big decision, if they got it right and can justify they got it right I put my hand up and apologise. The way we lost the game is where it really hurts, it's painful."

As it stands, Luiz will have to serve a one-match ban and will miss Arsenal's next Premier League fixture away at Aston Villa on Saturday.

If the Gunners fail with their appeal, the 33-year-old will also miss a meeting with Leeds at Emirates Stadium eight days later and a clash against Manchester City at the same venue on February 21.

Arteta is already certain to be without first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno for those three matches, with the German having also been dismissed during the reversal at Wolves.

Leno was shown a straight red card for handling the ball outside the box late in the second half, and Runar Alex Runarsson was subsequently brought on to replace him between the sticks.

The result at Molineux leaves Arsenal in 10th in the top-flight standings, eight points behind fourth-placed Leicester City, who have a game in hand.