Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has called for a replay of Liverpool’s match against Tottenham due to a VAR error that disallowed their opening goal. Despite the VAR controversy, Tottenham won the Premier League game 2-1, ending Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season with a 96th-minute own goal by Joel Matip.
The fallout from the VAR error continues, with Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) admitting a “significant human error.” PGMOL has released the audio conversation between the match officials following a request from Liverpool, but Klopp believes that the audio evidence doesn’t change the situation significantly.
Klopp argues that there should be solutions in place for such obvious mistakes, suggesting that the outcome should be a replay of the match. He acknowledges that this would be unprecedented but believes it’s the right course of action. However, Klopp also recognizes that there are arguments against a replay, as it could set a new precedent.
When asked if Liverpool had formally requested a replay from the Premier League, Klopp mentioned that they are still going through the available information. He emphasizes the importance of finding a solution to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, either through a replay or a better protocol for addressing such errors promptly.
Klopp’s stance is that correcting the mistake in the moment would have been much better, and he advocates for the use of common sense to address such situations. Whether a replay will occur remains uncertain at this stage, and Klopp’s call is based on his opinion.