Liverpool will be looking to return to winning ways after being held to a goalless draw by Fulham on Saturday at Anfield in the Premier League.
Andoni Iraola has made 10 changes for the Premier League showdown with Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur tonight.
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Meanwhile, Liverpool have been told by PGMOL chief Howard Webb why the correct decision was made to award them a penalty in their Premier League opener against Newcastle United.
The Reds salvaged a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park last month thanks to a last-minute spot-kick. Newcastle opened the scoring through Anthony Elanga before Cody Gakpo equalised.
Joe Willock restored the Magpies’ lead, but Dominik Szoboszlai levelled from the penalty spot with one of the final kicks of the game.
Liverpool were awarded the penalty after Lewis Hall fouled Victor Munoz, with referee Stuart Attwell pointing to the spot before the decision was checked and cleared by VAR.
James Bell was on VAR duty, with the match audio released on the latest episode of Mic’d Up. “It’s knee-on-knee contact. He looks to take the ball past him, steps into his leg, he doesn’t play the ball,” the VAR audio said.
“It’s as he said, so I’m confirming the penalty.” VAR later added: “It’s knee-into-thigh contact, so we’re confirming the on-field decision of penalty.”
Webb appeared on the latest instalment alongside former Liverpool striker Michael Owen and explained why he agreed with the decision to award Liverpool the penalty.
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good call late in this game. Former teams of yours, of course, Michael. And it demonstrates some real focus by the officials late in that game, the very last minute of added time,” Webb said.
“They’ve worked together well as a team. You’ll hear the assistant referee talk about how Hall hasn’t played the ball, and that’s really important because Munoz is in possession of the ball and knocks it past Hall.
“Hall doesn’t wipe him out, but he puts a foot in, and it’s what creates the contact that, in the end, brings Muñoz down. “So, a good and important decision right at the end of this game.”
The PGMOL chief added: “I think it’s a penalty, but I can see why you’d ask the question because Hall doesn’t wipe him out, does he? There’s contact when Hall goes in. But we’re using a light touch with VAR. We’re using a high bar for intervention.
“And if the referee says, ‘I’ve seen it, but for me it’s contact that’s not impactful enough,’ we’d probably leave this one alone, not interfere with this situation, let the referee’s call stand. And that can happen.
“You can prefer a penalty kick as the outcome but not feel it’s quite at the level of being clearly and obviously wrong, which is what VAR is there for. So overall, a good outcome, though.”
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