Referee Craig Pawson may have made a huge mistake in the most recent Liverpool game after failing to award a penalty for a possible handball from Luke Thomas.
With Premier League action now back in full swing after the break for the 2022 World Cup, the Reds are hoping to build up a run of momentum in the second half of the season.
And with two wins in two league games, they look to be doing just that. Indeed, after beating Aston Villa, Jurgen Klopp’s men followed this up with a 2-1 home win against Leicester City.
As shown by the scoreline, the match was relatively close. However, things could have been much more comfortable for Liverpool had the referee or VAR opted to hand out a penalty after the ball appeared to hit Thomas on the arm inside his own box.
TIF Thoughts on Liverpool…
As seen in the image, Thomas challenges Joel Matip, and as both players fail to connect with their heads, the ball drops onto his arm. This allows it to be cushioned by the Foxes defender before it’s cleared from danger.
As it clearly hits his hands, we think the left-back is rather lucky the referee didn’t point to the spot and that VAR let it slide. Perhaps they felt his arm was too close to his body, but that may well have been given as a penalty on another day.
In the end, it didn’t provide costly for the Reds, albeit only thanks to Wout Faes’ two own goals. Had the Reds not been so fortunate to win the game the way they did, this incident may have been looked upon with more scrutiny.
Do you think it was a penalty?
Yes
No
