Ex-Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys believes Liverpool were only awarded a penalty against Chelsea because referee John Brooks turned down the Blues claims for a spot-kick prior to Mohamed Salah's opener.

The Reds ran out 2-1 winners on Sunday against the Blues, with a Salah penalty and a second half Curtis Jones goal proving the difference on the day. Chelsea did equalise through Nicolas Jackson, but ended up conceding minutes later when Jones dinked Robert Sanchez at the beginning of the second half.

However, around 10 minutes prior to Salah's penalty, which was given after Levi Colwill kicked Jones inside the box, Chelsea had their shouts for a spot kick turned down when Jadon Sancho's foot was trodden on by Trent Alexander-Arnold. In the end, Brooks did not give Chelsea a penalty.

But in bizarre fashion, Keys, who now works for beIN SPORTS, has claimed the reason the referee decided to give Liverpool a penalty was due to not giving Chelsea one, adding that Salah and Jones also tried to con spot kicks out of Brooks as well. Writing in his weekly blog, Keys wrote: "It was billed as Liverpool's first big test of the season. Turns out it wasn't.

"I thought Chelsea were passive and largely ineffective and that description would sum up Cole Palmer's contribution as well. I'm a massive Palmer fan, but he had a day to forget - just four shots - none on target and he created only one chance for his team mates. In total, Chelsea only had two shots on target. Forest provided a much stiffer test - and Liverpool failed that one.

"Chelsea should've had a pen before Brooks eventually gave Liverpool one. Sancho's foot was clearly trodden on at the Kop end. Pen. Why was there no review? Salah tried to con one out of Brooks before Curtis Jones did. You could hear Brooks' mind working 'damn, I've just turned one down l, I'll have to give this'. Yes, there was contact but it was no more or less than there had been on Sancho. It certainly wasn't enough to send Jones tumbling."

Liverpool.com says: "Yeah, we're not really sure what Keys is going on about here. Yes, Salah probably did go down easily when he tried to win a penalty and should have been booked - but there's no doubt the foul from Colwill on Jones was certainly a penalty."