Here are your Liverpool evening headlines for Monday, October 10.
Richard Keys makes Liverpool refereeing claim after Arsenal loss
Renowned pundit Richard Keys thinks Liverpool can feel aggrieved with some of the refereeing decisions in their defeat to Arsenal.
The Reds were beaten 3-2 by the Gunners in their Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino scored what proved to be consolations for Liverpool in the capital, with an early Gabriel Martinelli strike and a Bukayo Saka brace handing the Reds a defeat.
Sunday’s match saw plenty of controversy across the full 90 minutes at the Emirates. The first came with Arsenal’s opening goal, with sections of supporters unhappy that Saka was not adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.
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Keys says that he thinks the goal should have been disallowed, and claims that he asked the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) for clarification on the offside, but did not receive it.
“But let’s get back to Arsenal. They got all the big decisions,” wrote Keys, in his blog .
“Saka is offside when he receives the ball in the build-up to the first goal. He’s clearly offside. But let’s be generous and say VAR let it go because it was so tight. I’ve argued that when decisions are – the forward should always get the advantage so I’d be happy if the PGMOL have had a change of heart. Except they haven’t.
“They missed it. How do I know? Because we asked the match centre for the proof that Saka was on. We wanted to see the lines they’d used to make their decision.
“They couldn’t provide them. Why? Because they didn’t use them. If they checked it – they guessed.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE .
Why Liverpool were denied penalty by VAR but Arsenal's was given
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher expected Liverpool to be awarded a penalty by VAR against Arsenal after the ball was handled by Gabriel Magalhaes.
The incident occurred quarter of an hour into the contest, when the Arsenal centre-back clearing blocked an attempted cross from Diogo Jota with a raised arm. Referee Michael Oliver failed to award a spot-kick, and when the incident went to a VAR review, his original decision was upheld.
The controversial incident was analysed by Gallagher on Sky Sports News' Ref Watch segment on Monday morning, who was surprised that a penalty was not awarded on review.
He said: "All I can think is the referee and the VAR referee thought it was too close in proximity. What we have seen this season, if the arm is out by in large it’s been penalised. When I saw it I expected VAR to overturn it but they felt it was too close that’s why it wasn’t given."
Liverpool's frustration at the decision not going their way will not have been helped by a similar incident in the Newcastle v Brentford game played the day before, where the Bees were awarded a spot-kick after Aaron Hickey headed against Dan Burn's raised arm.
Gallagher said: "The minute I saw it, his arm was high, I expected it to be given, I did say I was surprised the Arsenal one wasn’t given. I did think they were very similar and not treated the same. The directive is if the arm is shoulder high or above it’s given, I never thought for second it wouldn’t be penalised. When I saw the replay of the Gabriel one, I anticipated the VAR would recommend a review, I think he only thought it was too close and if he didn’t recommend it, the referee can’t go to the screen."
READ THE FULL STORY HERE .
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