After the #LIVARS Showdown yesterday…Liverpool player Virgil Van Dijk is to be Punished by PGMOL for making a Gesture and questioning the Referee “Have you been drinking?’

Virgil van Dijk appears to ask the referee, “Have you been drinking?” while he is being punished.

Referee Chris Kavanagh’s performance during the crucial match between title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal left Virgil van Dijk looking surprised. The match ended in a close tie.

In the tense stalemate between Liverpool and Arsenal, Virgil van Dijk seemed to question referee Chris Kavanagh about his drinking habits. The query from the Liverpool captain occurred during the fiercely contested game, in which the team made a remarkable comeback from a goal down but was unable to secure all three points. In one clip, which was posted online, Van Dijk can be seen asking Kavanagh about his sobriety while appearing to hold a drink. It’s possible that Van Dijk was lucky to avoid consequences if Kavanagh had heard his remarks and if they were actually what they appeared to be.

Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, meanwhile, voiced confusion over the decision-making process. Given that they are now only one point behind Arsenal at the top of the standings, he thought his club should have been given a penalty.

“The penalty situation is a weird situation; you look at it and I’m not sure how you can say it’s not a penalty,” Klopp emphasised. He wasn’t sure if the referee could see it. The great Jamie Carragher of Liverpool agreed with Klopp when he said that Odegaard was lucky not to have been given a penalty.

Conversely, commentator Gary Neville endorsed the choice to reject the penalty allegations. He hypothesised that Odegaard’s slip may have contributed to the non-call, implying that the effect of the slip made him unintentionally move his arm in an effort to reestablish equilibrium.