Liverpool and Manchester United faced today at Anfield in a blockbuster matchup of the 2023-2024 Premier League. There were a lot of implications for both teams, but, once again, VAR became the key factor.
Liverpool arrived to the game with a tremendous season. Only one loss after 16 matches. They had to answer in the standings as Arsenal recovered the first place with a 2-0 win earlier over Brighton. By the way, next game is a clash between Jurgen Klopp’s squad and the Gunners on December 23rd.
Meanwhile, this was be the match to defined the future of Erik ten Hag as coach of Manchester United. This week, they were eliminated of the Champions League in the group stage and couldn’t even clinch a berth for the Europa League. As 7th place on the standings, there was no more margin of error.
VAR saves Erik ten Hag’s job with Manchester United
When there were only five minutes left in the match, Luke Shaw committed a handball inside the penalty area. However, referee Michael Oliver didn’t make the call. In that moment, everyone expected VAR to confirm the penalty for Liverpool, but nothing was awarded. 0-0 as final result.
As a consequence, Liverpool fell to second place behind Arsenal (39 points). Thanks to their amazing comeback against Brentford, Aston Villa have also chased the Reds with 38 points. Manchester City are in fourth place with 34 points and Tottenham have 33.
