Joe Cole insists Chelsea SHOULD have received a penalty against Liverpool for Virgil van Dijk bringing Conor Gallagher down in front of the Kop… despite VAR sticking with the on-field decision

Joe Cole believes Liverpool were lucky not to give away a penalty inside the first ten minutes of their Premier League clash with Chelsea.

There was a loud Chelsea appeal when Conor Gallagher went down from a challenge by Virgil van Dijk inside the six-yard box in front of the Kop.

Paul Tierney though decided not to award a penalty, while a VAR check also decided to stick with the on-field decision.

Former Chelsea star Cole, doing punditry for TNT Sports, insisted that a penalty should have been awarded to the visitors.

He said: ‘In front of the Kop, first ten minutes, the referee has not been great there.’

The referee and VAR official though decided not to award the penalty for the Blues 

Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton disagreed though as he told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Conor Gallagher takes a touch past Virgil van Dijk, but I think Gallagher goes down too easily.

‘I think it is the correct decision, a tiny bit of contact.’

The debatable decision was made worse for Mauricio Pochettino’s side as Liverpool took the lead through Diogo Jota 16 minutes after the non-penalty.

Liverpool then doubled the lead shortly before half-time through youngster Conor Bradley, in another decision will draw the ire of Chelsea fans after there was a collsion between a Liverpool player and Ben Chilwell in the build-up.