PGMOL or other Premier League clubs: Who are Liverpool’s true title rivals?

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, Dean highlighted an incident involving Alex Pereira’s foul on Ryan Gravenberch where the Fulham player deserved a straight red card against Liverpool. He said:

“Pereira caught Gravenberch on the top of his Achilles and scrapped down. He’s nowhere near the ball. He knew what he was doing. It’s 100 per cent a red card.”

Subjective calls are understandable but what about objectively wrong ones?

Fulham defender Issa Diop survived a straight red card early in the game after he caught Robertson with a challenge. Diop’s stud caught the Scottish left-back on the thighs and kept him writhing in pain for a while. However, the referee produced only a yellow card for his reckless and harmful foul which shocked the Kopites.

The poor decision followed a completely wrong offside call on Luis Diaz which stopped an early attack from Liverpool. The Reds’ left-back Robertson suffered a straight red card incident in the 17^th minute of the game with 0-1 scoreline.

Before that incident, Pereira cynically fouled Gravenberch by intentionally stepping on his Achilles heel with his studs. Pereira received only a yellow card for that foul which incensed the home crowd who are familiar with this charade.

Liverpool fought back in the second half twice with the game ending in a 2-2 draw. However, the match had plenty of bad calls on separate occasions which continuously alienated the crowd.

Darwin Nunez received a yellow card despite making a perfect tackle on the ball, resulting in another momentum break. During the second half, Antonee Robinson also committed a tactical foul on Gravenberch which is a mandatory yellow according to the rules. However, that incident understandably remains subjective compared to other clear and blatant decisions that caused relentless adversities for Liverpool.

“Why so nervous”: Van Dijk questions the referee’s demeanour

The referee ignored that foul as the play continued for the Reds while Robinson was already on a yellow card. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports (via Daily Mail) that the referee displayed signs of nervousness. He said:

“I had conversations with the players of Fulham and we felt like the referee was nervous. He couldn’t properly communicate with Robertson I felt.”

However, the Liverpool captain defended the referee, claiming that he did not cause them to drop points. He added:

“We can’t put the blame on the referee. We all speak about protecting the referee but I couldn’t speak to him. It shouldn’t be a big thing because he isn’t why we dropped points.”

Nevertheless, many Liverpool fans are rightfully asking who they are competing with in the Premier League right now. Is it Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester City that threaten Liverpool or the PGMOL’s referees and their continuous inconsistency?

We already covered how David Coote’s saga could make things worse for the Reds this season with a displaced vendetta. When someone like former referee Dean speaks against the decision despite his proclivity towards defending the referees, it is clear that something biased happened against Liverpool in the Fulham draw. The only thing that Liverpool could do is focus on things they can control and hopefully, the refereeing factors will not hinder the title chase.

Liverpool will face Southampton next in the midweek’s Carabao Cup quarterfinal game followed by the tough game against Tottenham Hotspur. The Reds need to bounce back in the Premier League and make a course correction with Chelsea right behind them.