Liverpool fans have always been complaining about that. Hey, the entire Premier League thought something was a little wrong.
And now, after nearly a decade of the event, this has apparently been confirmed – the “aura” of Manchester United have led to positive decisions during their time as the dominant force in English football.
Mark Clattenburg, who has not evaded the publicity, was asked this week for his opinion Jurgen Klopp It highlights the impressive number of penalties awarded to United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“He is mistaken in suggesting that there is an aura around United that sees them making favorable decisions.” Said the previous judgment.
“He used to be there when Fergie (Alex Ferguson) was there, but that has gone down a lot since he left.
I am the only referee to award three penalties to the opponent at Old Trafford, and that was it Liverpool, From all teams in 2014.
“But David Moyes was a manager – I’m not sure that would have happened when Fergie was there!”
The match in question saw Steven Gerrard converting into two of the three penalties to lead Liverpool to a 3-0 victory.
It was the last time the Reds had won at Old Trafford, although their home record has been much better since then, as Klopp’s side were striving for their third consecutive home win over United for only the second time in more than 40 years. When faced with at Anfield. Sunday.
Of course, Ferguson has long since retired after he quit in 2013. But Klattenborg’s words will still be repeated.
So was the other claim that United’s players have gone out of their way to win a penalty shootout this season.
“There are up to five people that I believe have been invited or even initiated contact by a United player,” Clattenburg told the Mail that he evaluated all 11 awards.
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“They are smart in many ways. Once there is contact and the penalty counts, the VAR seldom will override the decision.
“Also note that more players are falling into what the referees call the” dead zone “in the penalty area, a position where they have little chance to score.”
Clattenberg then goes on to argue that Klopp could be described as a hypocrite if he described “the divers” the way Sadio Mane went to Earth under challenge from Kyle Walker Peters in Liverpool’s defeat to Southampton earlier this month.
Except, of course, that penalty was not counted – despite the near-identical situation involving Paul Pogba that had United’s victory over Aston Villa a few days earlier.
If the decisions, as could easily be explained, had gone the other way, Liverpool would still be in the lead. And even if, as it should have happened, no penalty kick was given, United would only have one point instead of three.
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This is just a fact, as Solskjaer undoubtedly points out, as United have won 18 penalties since the closure last year, during which Liverpool got six penalties.
Not bad for a team that scored only nine more goals than the Reds during the same period, 87 compared to 78.
There may be no aura about United now. But, as Liverpool might fear on Sunday, they have replaced it with something more likely to harm the opponents.
