Dermot Gallagher agrees with Jurgen Klopp over Liverpool penalty claim vs Arsenal

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp was left puzzled by the decision not to award his team a penalty for a handball by Martin Odegaard during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.

Despite Mohamed Salah's equaliser, Arsenal secured top spot in the Premier League on Christmas Day with the draw, leaving Liverpool one point behind in second place. However, Klopp thinks his team should have had a penalty in the 19th minute after Odegaard seemed to block Salah's path to the ball by handling it in the 18-yard box.

Referee Chris Kavanagh let play continue, and there was no VAR check. In his post-match press conference, Klopp joked that Gallagher, a regular on Sky Sports' Ref Watch show, would side with the referee's decision. But when asked, Gallagher said he believed Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty.

«I do agree (that a penalty should have been awarded),» he told Premier League Productions, via Liverpool Echo. «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'.

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»Whether he has