Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino of Arsenal confront Referee Anthony Taylor (Picture: Getty)

VAR officials did not have the Fantasy Premier League app on display during Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool despite online speculation.

In a back-and-forth encounter at the Emirates, Mohamad Salah’s late goal ensured that the spoils were shared with a 2-2 draw between the two title contenders.

Arsenal had led the encounter twice courtesy of goals from the returning Bukayo Saka and summer signing Mikel Merino but the Gunners were twice pegged back, first by Virgil van Dijk and then by Salah either side of half-time.

Despite a largely incident-free encounter in north London, Premier League fans did raise their eyebrows at one point following Merino’s first-half header.
As VAR sought to check whether the Spaniard had strayed offside before Declan Rice’s cross, users on social media began to suspect that one official had the Fantasy Premier League app open on his phone.

‘The VAR team actually have FPL up on their phone, you cannot make this up man,’ one joked on X.

‘No wonder he gave Arsenal the goal,’ another responded.

Social media users thought the VAR official’s device was displaying the FPL website (Picture: X)

However, despite online speculation, it has now been confirmed by ESPN journalist Dale Johnson that the app on display was the Premier League Match Manager app rather than anything to do with Fantasy Football.

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