Richard Keys took an online swipe at Liverpool over the two yellow cards they picked up for time-wasting in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Brentford, but a statistic has emerged which disproves the TV presenter’s accusation.
The 66-year-old tweeted at the weekend (via @richardajkeys on Twitter): “Did I see Alisson booked for time wasting today? At Anfield v Brentford? Surely not. Liverpool never waste time”, along with shrugging and crying with laughter emojis.
However, figures from Opta Analyst below (via SPORTbible) show that the Reds actually squander less time than any other team in the Premier League this season, with an average delay of just 23.3 seconds before restarting play, 2.3 seconds less than the next most time-efficient side (Manchester City).
In a further ironic twist, the worst offenders in this regard are Brentford, whose average comes in at 31.4 seconds, 1.5 more than the next-slowest team (Newcastle).
It was frustrating to see both Ibrahima Konate and Alisson booked for time-wasting on Saturday, but Anthony Taylor’s overall refereeing performance suggested that he didn’t need much incentive to whip out the yellow card when a Liverpool player was deemed the guilty party.
The issue has been in the spotlight over the past couple of days after Eddie Howe’s accusations of Arsenal eating into the clock during their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Sunday (football.london).
The Newcastle boss has since been pilloried by Gunners-supporting presenter Laura Woods (Mirror) in light of the above statistic, while the mind goes back to the Geordies’ loss at Anfield early in the season, when they consistently tried to halt Liverpool’s rhythm and momentum.
As for Keys, it was only last week that he tore into Jurgen Klopp over his touchline antics against Tottenham; and while the Reds boss was over the top that day, it’s certainly fair to say that we’re not exactly the former Sky Sports man’s favourite team of late.
Our gratitude to the good folks at Opta Analyst for sharing that time delay statistic, in turn making a mockery of the 66-year-old’s snide tweet about the Reds at the weekend.
Keys only exists to be ridiculed, he has no other purpose.