William Saliba makes refreshingly honest Liverpool penalty admission after Arsenal controversy

Arsenal defender William Saliba believes Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty following Martin Odegaard's handball in the 1-1 draw between the teams at Anfield.

Chris Kavanagh and David Coote, on VAR, did not see any wrongdoing from the Gunners captain after he handled the ball in the area in the first half under a challenge from Mohamed Salah.

At that stage the Gunners were leading through a fourth-minute Gabriel header. A piece of Salah magic rounded off a flowing move to restore parity in the 29th minute. But Liverpool were ultimately forced to settle for a share of the spoils in the top-of-the-table clash.

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The draw means that Arsenal remain top of the Premier League heading into Christmas with Jurgen Klopp's side still just one point behind them in second. Trent Alexander-Arnold had a golden opportunity to win it for the Reds late on when he rattled the crossbar. But after the match, the most scrutiny was placed on the role of the Video Assistant Referee as it saw no clear and obvious error in Kavanagh's decision not to award Liverpool a penalty.

However, Arsenal centre-back Saliba felt that his side were lucky to avoid any retrospective action from the match official and those in Stockley Park.

"Of course, of course, it was a penalty, but I'm not the ref, and we have to accept," the 22-year-old said.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) clarified that it was "not a clear and obvious error as Odegaard's arm is moving towards the body and not the ball as he goes down."

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was in