Jon Moss, the on-field referee, and Martin Atkinson, the VAR, have not proven popular over the last few matches they have done involving the Reds, not least in the game against Aston Villa this afternoon.
In the first half alone, Roberto Firmino appeared to have a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off despite VAR checking it, while Moss booked Sadio Mane for diving, when even though he went to ground theatrically, there was contact from the defender.
Now, this stat, which is quite incredible, has emerged:
Liverpool average 61 point season from games officiated by Jon Moss or Martin Atkinson
— SimonBrundish (@SimonBrundish) November 2, 2019
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(Video) Firmino goal not given by VAR despite initial replay looking like he’s onside
Atkinson tends to take charge of the bigger games, which perhaps lets him off the hook a little bit, but with Moss, there is no obvious reason why that would be the case.
The Reds need a big second half to turn the match around, otherwise, the officials are going to be under even more scrutiny than they already are.
Jurgen Klopp was already becoming increasingly agitated during the opening 45 minutes.