Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher disagree on Everton penalty vs Liverpool
The penalty awarded to Everton at Anfield on Saturday has divided plenty of opinion – including between former Liverpool teammates Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher.
Everton were a goal to the good when Dominic Calvert-Lewin raced through one on one with Alisson late on.
The Liverpool stopper was equal to Calvert-Lewin's strike, but referee Chris Kavanagh quickly pointed to the penalty spot when the Everton striker tumbled to the turf inside the box.
Reds' full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold had been chasing back in a bid to block the shot, though was a second too late as he missed the ball and slid in front of Calvert-Lewin.
While no contact was made from his initial slide tackle, Calvert-Lewin then tripped over Alexander-Arnold when the Liverpool defender was sat on the floor.
The Toffees' striker's knee had made contact with the back of Alexander-Arnold's head, though the right-back hadn't helped his cause by raising his leg as if to trip his opponent when he was already on the way down.
Even after a swift consultation with the VAR pitchside monitor, ref Kavanagh stuck with his original decision to award the foul, and Owen was in agreement.
“I thought it was a penalty as well," the ex-Liverpool forward told Premier League Productions.
"I think you can see there Trent Alexander-Arnold hooks his leg up, he lifts it up and he almost hooks him down, and I thought it was a penalty as well."
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It's been an extremely interesting start to the season for Jurgen Klopp's men.
They got their title defence off to a shaky start as they edged out a seven-goal thriller against Leeds, before going on to conceded seven in a hammering by Aston Villa.
Virgil van Dijk's season was ended by injury in the 2-2 draw at Everton, leaving the title favourites looking far less secure at the back – especially with Alisson's injury worries too.
But there's no slowing down in what is going to be a busy campaign – with Klopp ensuring his men continue at full pace as they bid for more title glory.
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However, there was plenty of uproar over the decision, with many believing Calvert-Lewin was to blame for failing to sidestep Alexander-Arnold – with Carragher being one of them.
"The referee's given a penalty but, when you see Trent, I'm not sure what he's supposed to do," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"He's there and he runs over him. I think that's very harsh for a penalty, I really do.
Penalty or no penalty? Have your say below.
"Trent's got to put a challenge in and it's just that follow-through from Calvert-Lewin.
"I'm not sure what Trent's supposed to do. Maybe you could argue it's not the fault of Calvert-Lewin that Trent's in his way but I think it's very harsh."
He added: "You don't see that often – you don't see a referee asked to look at a decision and very rarely keep his decision.
"I think it's a very harsh one."
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