WAR OF WORDS: SOLSKJAER vs. KLOPP

c and his Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp have been involved in a war of words since the start of the week. Manchester United boss Solskjaer had to reply after he was questioned on the recent statement made by Klopp. He gave the reply during his pre-match press conferenceon Tuesday as the Red Devils stepped up preparation for their semi-final clash with Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.


Liverpool manager Klopp began the war of words when he questioned the amount of spot kicks given to Manchester United in the aftermath of his team’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to Southampton. Ex-Liverpool striker Danny Ings scored the only goal as Southampton beat the Reds at home to condemn the English top flight title holders to their second league defeat of the season.

After the game, Jurgen Klopp threw a jibe at Manchester United over the number of penalties awarded to them as he questioned the refusal of centre referee Andre Marriner to award at least one penalty during the game. Klopp told reporters during his post-match presser that Liverpool forward Sadio Mane should have been awarded two penalties during the game at the St. Mary’s Stadium.

In his response to the penalty jib from his Liverpool counterpart, Manchester United manager Solskjaer laughed it off as he pointed out that managers are trying to influence the match officials by bringing up the Red Devils’ penalty record.

Manchester United have been awarded 11 penalties this season in all competitions, six of those have come in the league. On their part, Liverpool have been awarded five spot kicks this season. Significantly, Manchester United have been awarded 42 penalties in all competitions since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as the Red Devils boss, while Liverpool have won 19 penalties in the same time frame.