Some things are done on social media purely for attention, and more often than not it will work.
This article alone is evidence of that, but how this ploy in specific turned on its head is just too good to not share.
ESPN FC took to Twitter yesterday to share a lovely statistic showing Liverpool have received more penalties than Manchester United since the foundation of the Premier League.
This comes the day after Jurgen Klopp said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have been awarded more spot-kicks than the Reds over the last two years – which is correct.
MORE: Solskjaer agrees with Klopp’s Man Utd penalties jibe
What ESPN FC had tried to do is clear: take the boss’ completely legitimate comment and turn it into something else by removing the context entirely and checking the statistics from the last three decades.
The wool was not pulled over these Liverpool fans’ eyes though (below), and the interactions they received on their tweets shows they weren’t the only ones to see the funny side.
I'm crying they thought they done something https://t.co/otD9qI1Kud
— R8 🚜🌾 (@Nabyllionaire) January 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/0riiigi/status/1346476854224424969
If we actually take a look at the relevant years Klopp was taking about, United have been awarded 32 spot-kicks since the start of the 2017/18 season, compared to 17 picked up by Liverpool in the same time period – a noticeable difference of 15.