Tottenham were defeated by Liverpool in the Premier League with Trent Alexander-Arnold prompting an early penalty discussion between Mike Dean and Gary Neville
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean saw nothing in the challenge made by Trent Alexander-Arnold early on during Tottenham vs Liverpool. The full-back nudged James Maddison off the ball in the 18-yard box, with home supporters shouting for a penalty.
In North London, Spurs had one final Premier League match before Christmas Day, welcoming Liverpool. Luis Diaz had already put Arne Slot’s side ahead midway through the first half, assisted by a pinpoint Alexander-Arnold cross.
However, before that happened home supporters may have felt the full-back should have been punished for challenge committed in his penalty area with only ten minutes on the clock. As the hosts attacked looking to find the opening goal at the time, Alexander-Arnold chased down England team-mate Maddison towards the byline.
He brought his right arm up towards the back of the midfielder, who went to ground with fans in that corner of the stadium begging for a spot-kick.
“He took a little bit of a chance, Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was a little clumsy I felt. No need to do it, just that there, that right arm,” said a suspicious Gary Neville on commentary duty for Sky Sports.
Bringing in Sky’s expert on these refereeing issues, Dean, the former official surmised: “Not enough [contact], really. I think he’s felt him in his back and down quite easily.”
This evening’s on-field referee, 31-year-old Sam Barrott, clearly felt the same as he waved to the Spurs player to get up and paid no attention to the so-called ‘controversy’.
Reaching half-time, Liverpool had managed to double their lead through Alexis Mac Allister only for James Maddison to restore hope, curling in to make it 2-1. However, Dominik Szoboszlai has just restored the two-goal cushion with the match ending 6-3
The Premier League have seen fit not to release a statement on the Alexander-Arnold incident, as would usually be the case through their match centre account on X.
