Andoni Iraola pictured on the touchline during Liverpool's Premier League match against Arsenal at Anfield
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
The Premier League came out today and admitted that Jurrien Timber’s shirt pull on Alexander Isak should have resulted in a penalty for Liverpool, with Arsenal going on to win that game 1-0.
A verdict was released by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel on Wednesday morning. It should come as no surprise to Reds fans, who have time and again had to watch their team screwed over by VAR.
The nickname given to us by rival clubs — LiVARpool — has somehow stuck despite that fact, but when you look into the numbers, it really doesn’t add up.
Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal after Alexander Isak was pulled back by Jurrien Timber, the Premier League's KMI Panel has ruled.
The KMI Panel produced a split 3:2 vote that the VAR should have intervened.
👇https://t.co/br0ZF7Zk6q
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonBBC) November 11, 2026
Liverpool’s track record with VAR and referees tells a different story
The penalty should have been awarded against Arsenal, but we really shouldn’t be surprised that it wasn’t.
Since VAR’s introduction in 2019, Liverpool have been awarded just two foul penalties courtesy of VAR. The last one was in 2022. Man City have been awarded six in the time since, while Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea have all had more as well.
But that’s not the only major discrepancy that debunks the argument.
Last season, only Leeds United were more negatively impacted by incorrect VAR and refereeing decisions. Liverpool had three wrong decisions go against them, and ZERO in their favour.
Stretching back to VAR’s introduction, Liverpool have been on the wrong end of some shocking calls, but none worse than Luis Díaz’s disallowed goal against Spurs in 23/24. A perfectly good goal at 0-0, with the Reds down to ten men, was chalked off, and PGMOL later admitted it was “a significant human error”. Liverpool lost 2-1.
And who can forget Martin Odegaard’s blatant handball being missed by VAR, also in 23/24.
Andoni Iraola has the same number of points after 10 games as Arne Slot did last season (18). Have Liverpool improved or still not performing?
Give us your thoughts…
There are clear flaws with Liverpool but I actually think they’re ahead of schedule under Iraola. I expected a slower start
Slot's haul was higher than it should have been last season though, right? Those opening five or so games masked a lot of issues before it caught up with them. Iraola's team look to be building towards something, rather than just getting the rub of the green before a decline!
It took him a while to get going with Bournemouth too tbf. I rememebr his side came to Goodison and thy were the worst id seen in a long time, a few months later they were flying
Other cases; Pickford escaping punishment for a poor challenge on Van Dijk that tore his cruciate. Mac Allister’s red card against Bournemouth was rescinded, and Origi was fouled in the build-up to a Rashford goal at Old Trafford in 2019.
And the most consequential VAR error of them all for the Reds happened in a game between Man City and Everton. Rodri’s clear handball in the 2021/22 season went unpunished, and City beat Liverpool to the title by a single point.
All this to say, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a team more scorned by refereeing in the past seven years. So, the next time a rival fan tries to say Liverpool get preferential treatment, tell them to kindly shut up… or something to that effect.
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