Everton’s relegation fears increased at Anfield last weekend, with the away team believing they had two valid calls for penalties dismissed.
Winger Anthony Gordon was booked for simulation for the first despite there appearing to be contact with Naby Kieta.
The second appeal was even more controversial, with Gordon going down under pressure from Reds defender Joel Matip. Everton boss Frank Lampard insisted that if Mo Salah was in Gordon’s position, then he would have been awarded a penalty.
Does he have a point? Planet Sport looks at the penalty stats for this season to see if referees favour home teams when it comes to penalties.
Which teams have been awarded the most penalties this season?
At first glance there seems some merit to Lampard’s claim, with Liverpool topping the table for the most penalties awarded this season. alongside Chelsea and Man City. All three have been awarded eight and all three teams have missed a single penalty, including Jorginho’s shocker in their 1-0 win over West Ham last weekend.
However, it follows that the teams near the top end of the table and scoring the most goals will also be well placed when it comes to spot-kicks. After all, they spend more time on the front foot and make more penalty area incursions.
Everton cannot consider themselves to have been too harshly treated this season, though. Despite being 18th in the table and having scored 51 fewer goals than Liverpool, they…
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