Former Premier League referee gives verdict on Liverpool vs Arsenal penalty incident

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal after Martin Odegaard handled the ball inside the box in the first half. 

The Arsenal captain slipped and lost his footing before the ball struck his left arm, but to which he was not penalized despite a lengthy VAR check. However, speaking to Premier League Productions after the 1-1 draw at Anfield, Gallagher admitted Liverpool should have been awarded a spot-kick as Odegaard deliberately moved his hand towards the ball.

He said (quotes via Liverpool Echo): “I do agree (that a penalty should have been awarded). 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’.

“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.”

Liverpool have been on the wrong end of a few calamitous decisions in the Premier League this season and will feel hard done by once again as referee Chris Kavanagh failed to hand them a spot-kick. Jurgen Klopp joked after the game that Gallagher would somehow find a way to defend his colleagues' decision, but the former Premier League referee has actually sided with him on this one.