Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny has hit out at Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, slamming the Uruguayan as a “cheat”.

Suarez has drawn the ire of the likes of Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce and Stoke City manager Tony Pulis in recent weeks for a dive during the Reds’ match against the Potters.

Now, Koscielny has joined the criticism of the Uruguay international, naming him as the striker he enjoys facing least because of his style of play.

“A striker that I hate to mark? Luis Suarez,” Koscielny told L’Equipe. “He is hard to take. He cheats, pulls your shirt and gives you little kicks. You always want to give him a kick but you have to be careful not to be red carded.”

Suarez refuted Boyce’s words on Saturday, claiming that he had never heard of the Northern Irishman and that he simply “wants to get publicity”.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers slammed “the vilification of Luis” as “both wrong and unfair”, while Suarez himself has insisted that his “conscience is clean”.

Koscielny was more complimentary in his praise of former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who left the Premier League for a brief spell at Shanghai Shenhua at the end of last season.

“He is tough, he is good when he plays with his back to goal,” Koscielny said of the Ivorian. “He’s strong with his head. He is the first defender, he runs everywhere. We saw against Barcelona last season – by himself, he crashed the Barcelona ship.”