In an uncertain world, David Luiz provides the reassurance we all need

It was like David Luiz had never been away.

100 days without the Premier League and there goes David Luiz acting like nothing has changed.

The Premier League returned on Wednesday night. There were no fans, the players stayed socially distant in the build up and it was like nothing we had seen before. Well, kind of. Because out of the darkness emerged a hero for our times, a man to tell us that everything will be all right. That man was David Luiz.

In a world of uncertainty, David Luiz provided a reminder that some things don’t change. Mikel Arteta had left David Luiz out of his starting line up but it would take more than that to prevent him from getting involved. And once he was sent on in the first half, he delivered a typically game changing contribution.

When he came on as a sub, he made up for lost time by being at fault for City’s first goal and bringing down Riyad Mahrez for the penalty which brought the second and led to his sending off. And the world breathed easily again.

On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna, Dion Fanning and Nooruddean Choudry talk about the Premier League’s return, Luiz’s special talents and the importance of all players in Wednesday’s matches taking a knee as part of the Black Lives Matter protests.

It was fitting that, on its first evening back, the player who made the difference in the Premier League fixtures was Raheem Sterling. Sterling scored his first goal of 2020 as City kept the title race going for the time being. After the game he praised the Premier League for allowing the players to take a knee but it is men like Sterling who have made that possible by raising the issue of racism repeatedly. Now there is a chance for real change and men like Sterling and Marcus Rashford are the reason why.