Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has appeared to suggest that Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp is partly responsible for Manchester United’s lack of penalties this season.
United won 11 spot-kicks in the Premier League last term, more than any side other than Leicester, with Klopp expressing frustration at what he perceived to be fortune for Liverpool’s rivals.
United have not yet been awarded a penalty in any of their opening five top-flight fixtures, a fact that has irked Solskjaer – despite his team earning 13 points from a possible 15 so far.
“A certain manager last year was starting to worry about us getting penalties and after that it seems like the decisions are more difficult to give,” Solskjaer said in a press conference on Friday, seemingly referencing Klopp’s comments from last season.
“I’ve seen a big difference since then on. So leave it to the refs and make the right calls very soon.
“We just have to hope we get what we deserve. We should have had three penalties in the last two games.”
Many observers felt that Cristiano Ronaldo should have been given a penalty for a challenge in West Ham’s box late in Man United’s 2-1 victory over the Hammers last weekend. Moments later, West Ham won a spot-kick, which Mark Noble was brought on to take but missed deep into stoppage time.
Solskjaer was speaking ahead of United’s Premier League game against Aston Villa on Saturday, which the Red Devils will enter in third place in the table – level on points with Chelsea and Man City but behind on goal difference.
