VAR actually made a mistake in Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea that nobody is talking about whatsoever

John Brooks had a lot on his plate during Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield.

The 34-year-old awarded Liverpool two penalties in the opening 45 minutes, changing his mind for the second after VAR suggested Robert Sanchez, who Jamie Carragher criticised, won the ball before smashing into Curtis Jones.

Brooks also had a decision to make on whether Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty as well, after Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to sweep Jadon Sancho’s right leg from underneath him.

Liverpool escaped that incident unscathed, eventually securing a 2-1 win to move ahead of Manchester City and to the top of the Premier League.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	8	7	0	1	15	3	12	21
2	Man CityManchester City	8	6	2	0	19	9	10	20
3	ArsenalArsenal	8	5	2	1	15	8	7	17
4	Aston VillaAston Villa	8	5	2	1	15	10	5	17
5	BrightonBrighton	8	4	3	1	14	10	4	15
6	ChelseaChelsea	8	4	2	2	17	10	7	14

Ultimately, Brooks did not give Chelsea a penalty, although there was one major incident that went against the Blues which everybody seemed to miss.

VAR missed handball from Curtis Jones before Levi Colwill foul

As you will have seen, it was Levi Colwill who committed the foul for Liverpool’s penalty – which was converted by Mohamed Salah.

It was a definite foul, as the Liverpool No.17 quickly got his body between the Chelsea No.6 and the ball after a shot from Salah ricocheted kindly into his path.

However – before Colwill made contact – that shot from the Egypt international actually struck Jones on the hand, a moment that VAR should have taken into account as it was in the same passage of play.

The Premier League’s official website even states: “For penalties awarded, the VAR will check for any infringements by the attacking team in the attacking possession phase (APP) that led to the penalty as well as the incident for which the penalty was awarded.”

Of course, Jones was not looking at the ball when Salah shot, while it was also travelling at some speed when striking his hand, although by the letter of the law, handball should have been awarded by Brooks before the penalty.

In his post match interview, Enzo Maresca even suggested the Anfield crowd influenced Brooks and his decision making, which could well have been a factor behind why this handball wasn’t checked.

Despite losing to Liverpool, Chelsea showed signs of progress

Nobody has really known what to make of Chelsea since Todd Boehly arrived, as the Blues ploughed through four managers in quick succession in Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino, preventing a distinct style of play from being coached into the players.

However, Maresca does seem to be moving the Blues in the right direction – a notion evidenced by the warm round of applause Chelsea fans gave the Italian and his players after the game inside Anfield.

As WhoScored shows, Chelsea had 12 shots to Liverpool’s nine, while also having 58% of possession and six corners compared to just one from the Reds.

Of course, there is only one statistic that matters at the end of the day – the scoreline – but taking the underlying numbers into account, Chelsea are finally showing they can compete in these Big Six clashes after a period of huge turnover.