Dermot Gallagher agrees with Jurgen Klopp over Liverpool penalty claim vs Arsenal

Dermot Gallagher agrees with Jurgen Klopp over Liverpool penalty claim vs Arsenal
Jurgen Klopp was left confused by the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty for a handball by Martin Odegaard during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher.

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp was left puzzled by the decision not to award his team a penalty for a handball by Martin Odegaard during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.

Despite Mohamed Salah’s equaliser, Arsenal secured top spot in the Premier League on Christmas Day with the draw, leaving Liverpool one point behind in second place. However, Klopp thinks his team should have had a penalty in the 19th minute after Odegaard seemed to block Salah’s path to the ball by handling it in the 18-yard box.

Referee Chris Kavanagh let play continue, and there was no VAR check. In his post-match press conference, Klopp joked that Gallagher, a regular on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch show, would side with the referee’s decision. But when asked, Gallagher said he believed Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty.

“I do agree (that a penalty should have been awarded),” he told Premier League Productions, via Liverpool Echo. “When I first saw it, I thought he was slipping. I can understand the referee on the pitch not giving it.

“The VAR felt that, with the subjective nature of handball, he thinks he is slipping and his arm is coming in. If you see that last picture, it looks as though he moves towards the ball, and I think the more acceptable decision would have been a penalty.

“I could hear them speaking. I heard him say back to Chris Kavanagh that, ‘he has slipped and his arm is coming in towards his body, and he is making himself smaller’.

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“Whether he has felt that and he isn’t seeing it like we have or whether he hasn’t seen the angle like we have. But, without doubt, the last angle we see is the most damning one. You see his arm come in, and, without doubt, he plays the ball.”

An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.

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Arsenal’s defender, William Saliba has weighed in on the controversial decision during the intense 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield, according to Liverpool Echo.

The match was filled thrilling moments, but it was the VAR decision that stole the post-match spotlight.

In the first half, with Arsenal leading 1-0 through a fourth-minute Gabriel header, the game took a turn when Martin Odegaard was involved in a handball incident.

Mohamed Salah’s challenge resulted in Odegaard handling the ball in the area, sparking a debate over whether Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty.

Surprisingly, both the on-field officials and VAR, represented by Chris Kavanagh and David Coote, saw no wrongdoing.

Saliba expressed his opinion on the incident, suggesting that Liverpool had a legitimate claim for a penalty.

“Of course, it was a penalty, but I’m not the ref, and we have to accept,” said the 22-year-old center-back. However, the decision not to award a penalty stood, leaving Liverpool to settle for a draw.

The draw allowed Arsenal to maintain their top position in the Premier League as they head into the Christmas break, with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool closely trailing by just one point.

Despite Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late attempt to secure victory for the Reds hitting the crossbar, the focus post-match was predominantly on the VAR decision.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) clarified their stance, stating that Odegaard’s handball was not a “clear and obvious error” as his arm moved towards the body and not the ball during the incident.