It could have been very different for Arne Slot’s Liverpool against Paris St-Germain on Tuesday. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, the Reds were given a 64th-minute penalty that might have turned the tie — only for the video assistant referee (VAR) to intervene and tell referee Maurizio Mariani he had made a mistake.
For Slot, that moment summed up his season. He says his team have conceded penalties in similar circumstances with little contact but no VAR intervention. Five minutes after play resumed, Ousmane Dembélé scored and PSG won 2-0 on the night, 4-0 on aggregate. “I’m not surprised,” Slot said. “So many decisions have gone against us this season. It’s quite simple. If the referee doesn’t give a penalty the VAR would have never overturned it. I’ve seen so many soft penalties given, but people say VAR can’t interfere because there is contact. That is what we clearly see.”
The controversial incident saw Alexis Mac Allister go for a loose ball in the area, placing his body in front of PSG defender Willian Pacho before going to ground. Mariani pointed to the spot, but VAR Marco Di Bello quickly sent him to the pitchside monitor. The intervention was contentious because there was contact from Pacho on the back of Mac Allister’s boot. One can debate whether that contact was enough to cause the Argentina international to fall; normally any contact would mean no clear and obvious error, so why did VAR get involved?
A review hinges on how the referee describes the incident to the VAR — did he say it was a push or a trip? We will never know the exact description, but for VAR to intervene the referee’s explanation must materially differ from what the footage shows. Slot did concede his side had been fortunate in the first leg, where a PSG penalty was overturned and another claim might have gone to VAR.
There are reasons Slot might feel aggrieved. Liverpool, along with Brighton, have conceded three VAR-awarded penalties in the Premier League this season — more than any other teams. Aside from spot-kicks at Brentford and Leeds, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was penalised for bringing down Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku in November. Liverpool have had one spot-kick they conceded go unawarded via VAR (the reverse meeting with City when Matheus Nunes was bundled over by Alisson). They have been awarded only two penalties this season — neither via VAR and both against Burnley. Only Aston Villa and Tottenham have had fewer spot-kicks.
Overall VAR interventions have gone against Liverpool six times; only Fulham, on nine, have suffered more. Liverpool have had five negative goal outcomes — two disallowed and three conceded — again only Fulham are worse on seven. Looking at net VAR interventions (favourable minus against), only Everton (-4) have a worse outcome than Liverpool (-3).
Not all controversial calls appear in VAR stats. Some incidents Slot may reference were evaluated by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel and were borderline: Florian Wirtz’s penalty claim against Arsenal in January drew a 3-2 vote that the on-field decision of no penalty was correct; similarly, Brentford’s October game saw a 3-2 vote in favour of no spot-kick for Nathan Collins’ challenge on Cody Gakpo. It can cut the other way too — Ibrahima Konaté’s challenge on Omar Marmoush in February resulted in a 3-2 vote in Liverpool’s favour.
Managers such as Pep Guardiola and Michael Carrick have also complained about refereeing luck this season. But by VAR decision records, only Chelsea have a more favourable record than Manchester City and Manchester United. Looking at the numbers, Slot does have some statistical backing for feeling hard done by.
