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Jurgen Klopp compared Liverpool’s penalty record to Manchester United’s, but does he have a point?
The champions fell to a second league loss of the season in Southampton on Monday, with Klopp frustrated as his team was unsuccessful with two second-half penalty appeals.
Sunday, January 17 4:00 pm
Start 4:30 pm
Kyle Walker-Peters ‘challenge on Sadio Mane and Jack Stephens’ hand while blocking Georginio Wijnaldum’s shot went unpunished for referee Andre Marriner, prompting Klopp to highlight the disparity between the number of penalties awarded to Liverpool compared to with his rivals Manchester United.
“I hear now that Manchester United had more penalties in two years than I have in five and a half years,” Klopp said. “I have no idea if it’s my fault or how it can happen.”
2:20
Jamie Carragher analyzes whether Liverpool should have had a penalty after Sadio Mane’s fall in the area against Southampton
Has Man Utd had more penalties than Liverpool?
Since Jurgen Klopp took over the reins at Anfield in early October 2015, Manchester United have received 41 penalties, 11 more than Liverpool; about two extra per season on average.
However, in the early years of the Klopp dynasty, when José Mourinho was in charge at Old Trafford, the finger pointed to the place much more in favor of Liverpool than its former rivals.
In 2016/17, Liverpool received eight against four from United. Liverpool scored 24 more goals throughout the season, which might explain that somewhat, but they only had 100 more touches in the opposition penalty area.
The following season, when Mourinho’s United finished runners-up in the Premier League, they scored just 68 goals to Liverpool’s 84, and had 206 fewer touches in the opponent’s area than Liverpool, but both sides received three shots from the spot at the course of the match. Bell.
However, Liverpool scored six more goals than in the previous season, suggesting that Klopp’s team had become more clinical rather than simply being unlucky with the referees’ decisions.
Ole’s arrival marks a turn in favor of Man Utd
However, things started to turn out of Liverpool’s favor in the middle of the following season.
When Mourinho left Old Trafford and Solskjaer took his place, counterattacks and counter-attack football became the order of the day, and soon United’s numbers began to climb.
Jesse Lingard scored from the point in Solskjaer’s first Premier League win in his first match for Manchester United against Cardiff in December 2018.
Since then, no club has received more (27) or scored more (21) penalties than United. By contrast, during the same period, Liverpool have received just 17 penalties in the Premier League.
So is Klopp right?
Klopp is correct about the disparity in the number of free kicks on goal conceded to United compared to Liverpool, especially in recent years, although their numbers in the exact comparison were slightly off the mark.
Klopp’s intention may have been to draw attention to some of the more dubious point kicks delivered to Solskjaer’s side that have rightly been questioned, such as the one Bruno Fernandes won and converted against Aston Villa during Project Restart, despite the fact that the Portuguese seemed to initiate contact. with Ezri Konsa.
But, as Klopp admitted after the loss at St. Mary’s, Liverpool’s players have also been criticized for falling easily, with the manager referring to Mane’s last-minute win over Leicester in the same season.
So while the data may say one thing, it may be an exaggeration to say that United have had an easy ride with referees compared to Liverpool for the past five years, but mind games haven’t always followed the logic at the foot of the letter.
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