Liverpool fans will be feeling aggrieved over two refereeing decisions in the opening minutes of today’s Premier League clash against Chelsea.
On yet another weekend littered with talking points surrounding the officials, particularly at the upper end of the table, there were a couple of early instances which would’ve had Reds supporters raging.
Liverpool aggrieved over two early incidents
In the fifth minute, Levi Colwill used his hand to block a pass from Mo Salah, with the Blues defender clearly having his arm extended as the home players understanably screamed for handball.
A couple of minutes later, Tosin Adarabioyo apprehended Diogo Jota just inside Chelsea’s half of the pitch, but with a huge expanse of open space ahead of the Liverpool attacker, it could legitimately have been deemed a clear goalscoring opportunity. Alas, John Brooks felt that a yellow card was punishment enough.
Liverpool fans right to feel annoyed
Decisions will go for and against teams over the course of a season, but Liverpool fans will have legitimate grievances about those two calls.
The Colwill one was a clear handball and, with his arm extended out like somebody trying to flag down a taxi, it beggars belief as to how no free kick was given in that instance.
The Tosin booking was probably even more contentious, especially in the context of William Saliba being sent off in near-identical circumstances in Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth less than 24 hours previously.
Despite Gary Neville arguing that it was ‘clumsy’ from the Chelsea defender (Sky Sports), he and Mike Dean agreed that Brooks got it right by showing a yellow card, but we beg to differ.
At the time of writing, there’s still plenty of time for Liverpool to secure victory and ensure that those decisions fade into irrelevance.
However, should the Reds draw or lose narrowly, fans will rightly point to the Tosin incident in particular as one which ought to have a different outcome.