Premier League issues Arsenal statement as VAR hands Liverpool huge title boost

 The Premier League has explained why Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the game against West Ham.



Arsenal went into the encounter knowing three points was a must after Liverpool drew with Aston Villa in midweek. The Reds are back in action against Manchester City on Sunday.

But Jarrod Bowen fired the visitors in front and Arsenal's task was made harder when Lewis-Skelly saw red. The Arsenal defender felled Mohamed Kudus and despite an initial yellow card being shown, VAR reviewed the incident and advised a red be shown.

A statement read: "VAR checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Lewis-Skelly for a challenge on Kudus – deeming it denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity due to the goalkeeper’s position and there being no covering defender, therefore recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card."

Former Arsenal star Paul Merson suggested the incident would have a huge bearing on the title race, insisting: "Liverpool league champions."

Merson added: "He gets the ball just inside the West Ham half and sees there is nothing on, so turns back around. Kudus nicks the ball off him so he brings him down. It is 100 percent a red card. It has to be. He is away, Raya is about 40 yards off his line. It is a goalscoring opportunity."

Liverpool now knows that victory over City on Sunday will see the gap return to 11 points ahead of the midweek matches. The Reds welcome Newcastle to Anfield while Arsenal has a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest.



Speaking ahead of Sunday's encounter, Arne Slot said: "What I always expect from City since Pep is there: a great football team that can play so well. City has had maybe one or two months in the seven or eight years he's there now that weren't the best, maybe partly because of injuries as well.

"Injuries come back, Pep has signed three or four players, I can see his team coming back already if you look at the result against Newcastle. So what you expect is what everybody expects if you go to the Etihad if you play against City. You have to suffer as well and work really hard to keep them away from your goal because they are so, so good in ball possession. But they face a strong team as well that hasn't lost for 22 games."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alibaba won’t solve all of Apple’s China problems

Image
 Apple’s China business kicked off the Year of the Snake inauspiciously. Revenue dropped 11 per cent during the December quarter and iPhone sales plunged more than 18 per cent. The Trump administration unveiled fresh tariffs on goods from its biggest manufacturing base, and it’s still unclear if the Cupertino, California-based company can get out of them this time around. Beijing, meanwhile, is reportedly mulling a probe into its app store fees and practices. But it may have notched a much-needed win on Thursday (Feb 13): Alibaba Group confirmed it would be working with the iPhone maker to finally bring Apple Intelligence to China.  The Information previously reported that Apple and the e-commerce giant had submitted a proposal to regulators. The company has launched its much-hyped artificial intelligence features in the United States and other jurisdictions, but has been plagued by delays in finding a local partner in a market where demand for personal generative AI services...
Read more

Tips for getting the best airline seats without paying extra

Image
 Tips for getting the best airline seats without paying extra Is there anything more frustrating than booking flights or a package holiday, only to face yet another decision at check-in: should you hedge your bets and skip “choosing your seats” (i.e. paying extra), or fork out more money to secure your preferred spot? Whether you favor soaking in the sights with a window view, an aisle seat to avoid clambering over fellow passengers for bathroom breaks, or simply sitting next to your travel companions; this blatant money-making tactic is a real pain in the neck.  Resourceful passengers, however, have found a way to work the system, dubbing it “check-in chicken.” Click through the gallery to learn everything you need to know about this nifty, money-saving travel hack. Would you pay extra to sit where you want? Some people will happily pay extra to lock in their favorite seat. But on budget airlines, many prefer to save their cash, rolling the dice on ending up wedged between t...
Read more

MLS moves start time for Miami-NYCFC season opener

Image
 Inter Miami 's Major League Soccer season opener against New York City FC will now be played on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after originally being scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. ET. The decision to delay the game by five hours comes due to the postponement of the Concacaf Champions Cup match between Inter Miami and Sporting Kansas City. The two teams were set to face each other on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET in Kansas City, but the regional governing body moved the match to Wednesday due to severe weather conditions around the city. Multiple winter storm warnings were issued, stating that Kansas City could see 5-7 inches of snow with temperatures as low as 5 degrees. The first leg of the first round CCC match will now be played on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET with predicted temperatures of 3-5 degrees. "The decision to reschedule the match has been made to prioritize player and fan safety, and in close coordination with the two particip...
Read more