Mikel Arteta has defended his reaction to Max Dowman's sending off in Arsenal's shock defeat to Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup, insisting "we are not in Disneyland".

Dowman was shown a straight red card after lashing out at a strong challenge from a Fleetwood player, with the Gunners going on to lose on penalties against the League Two side.

The teenager also received a red card while representing England's Under-19s during the last international break for the same action.

Dowman will miss Arsenal's next three domestic games, including their Premier League trip to Anfield on Sunday.

Arteta did not hide his frustration with Dowman on the sidelines at Fleetwood, and the Spaniard stood by his reaction.

"If you see the reaction of my father and my mother with me some days you might say 'I don't like the reaction'. For me it was the best reaction to be who I am," said Arteta.

"Whether it is right or wrong, that is the reaction. And the reaction when I don't win, you want to know what my reaction is? I am [expletive] off big time.

"So, we need to be ready for that. This is the environment and this is the reality, otherwise we are in Disneyland. We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League and this is the level.

"We look after him so much that you cannot imagine. But at the same time we are going to demand from him like everybody else because he needs to earn the right to play. Because the other boys, what are they going to say to me? You need to be fair."

Attention turns to the Premier League  https://t.co/XJ3HLSFu9R

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 28, 2026

Arsenal are winless in their last 13 away Premier League games against Liverpool (D5 L8), since winning 2-0 in 2012-13.

They have never gone 14 winless away at Anfield in their league history, also going 13 between 1975-76 and 1987-88, a run which was broken by their famous 2-0 final-day victory in 1988-89, which secured the title.

"It's an opportunity. I came here and in many places we were 20, 22 years, 18 years without winning, and we've been doing all these things, so on Sunday, that's the opportunity that we have," added Arteta.

"We expect a big game on Sunday; we're looking forward to it for sure. It's 14 years that we haven't won there, so it's time to do it."