Liverpool gets new referee verdict after Arne Slot complaint about Mohamed Salah incident

Liverpool and Manchester United have had similar refereeing incidents end in different outcomes in recent weeks, with Arne Slot asked about the inconsistency earlier today

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot says Marc Guehi should have seen red against his side recently, pointing to the decision to send off Maxence Lacroix of Crystal Palace during its defeat at Manchester United this weekend.

The two similar incidents resulted in different outcomes, with Lacroix determined to have prevented Matheus Cunha from taking a clear shot at goal and Guehi only cautioned for his tug on Mohamed Salah. Lacroix conceded a penalty while Guehi let go just in time.

Slot's argument was that both punishments should have been the same in terms of the color of the card produced, but the former referee Dermot Gallagher, speaking on Sky Sports' Ref Watch segment, disagreed with that verdict.

A few weeks ago, he said that Guehi only getting a yellow card was correct because there was — just about — a covering defender. In the case of Lacroix, Cunha, even though he didn't have the ball under control, was in slightly more space.

With the Lacroix challenge, the contact starts outside the penalty area but continues inside, which means the decision to award a penalty was correct.

And Gallagher believes that it was a red card, because had the Brazilian forward not been impeded, he would have controlled the ball and been through on goal.

Marc Guehi of Manchester City and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool during the Premier League match at Anfield on February 8, 2026(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

"It is a red card because if you look there, the ball is just in front of him," Gallagher said. "The ball goes to Dean Henderson because he takes him down."

Slot, however, was not in agreement. He felt that the decision to send Lacroix off was correct, but said that something similar should have benefited his team last month.

"Very comparable," Arne Slot said in his press conference when asked about the similarities between the two challenges, with one resulting in a red card and the other not.

"The only difference is that Mo was pulled by the shirt and the Palace one was by the shoulder. I see a similar distance and maybe the distance between Guehi and Dias was even bigger than Palace's two center-backs.

"[The Manchester United one] is for me a red card. I said so many times it was clear for me that the one from Marc Guehi was a red card as well."

Lacroix will be suspended as Crystal Palace takes on Tottenham on Thursday. Manchester United, now only three points ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League standings, faces Newcastle on Wednesday.

Since losing to Manchester City, Liverpool has won each of its fixtures. It has Wolves next at Molineux.

Liverpool.com says: The Cunha and Salah incidents are similar, but there is just about a few more potential covering defenders in the latter example. There have been far more egregious VAR decisions this season.