Klopp Questions Absence Of VAR In Man City Vs Liverpool Carabao Cup Clash

In Liverpool’s Carabao Cup fourth-round loss to Manchester City on Thursday, Jurgen Klopp argued that VAR should have been deployed.

The use of the VAR in the competition does not begin until the semifinal round because lower league stadiums do not have access to it, but Jurgen Klopp has expressed concern about that choice.

Erling Haaland, a City striker, was attempting to set up Cole Palmer in the sixth minute when the call for offside should have been made, but the 20-year-old squandered the opportunity. Yet, coach Klopp claimed that the missed call hurt his team.

Additionally, according to Klopp, the officials appeared to be depending on VAR to provide them with an answer about uncertain calls, missing a few calls as a result.

“The first chance of Haaland, at the start of the game, was offside,” Jurgen Klopp said after the 2-3 defeat. “You don’t know? Yes, it was. I tell you. That gives the game direction.

“It was like, bump, ‘oh my god, they are through’, it was offside, but no flag up, and it gives you a bad feeling.

“I would say if we had VAR, the referees are used to VAR, and all of a sudden you tell them not today. It looked like in a couple of situations they were waiting for it or thinking there was still VAR.

“But there were a couple of offside decisions, where everyone in the stadium was convinced they were offside. We’ll never know probably because we can’t play them back.

“But it makes sense if you play competition and everywhere is VAR [Premier League], why not, especially in a game like this? I understand in earlier rounds it’s not possible on all levels, but this, City-Liverpool, all the technical things are here, so why shouldn’t we use it?”

Due to the World Cup break, Manchester City and Liverpool didn’t play any competitive game for a month, but they rekindled their rivalry on Thursday night at the Etihad Stadium in fierce form.

Following Kevin De Bruyne’s left-footed cross after 10 minutes, Haaland scored to give Man City the lead.

After that, Jurgen Klopp and his boys came from behind twice but ultimately lost to the Premier League champions owing to two defensive mistakes.

The 3-2 defeat has ended Liverpool’s journey in the competition this season. As for Manchester City, they will have to beat Southampton on January 10 in the quarter-finals to book a place in the semis.