Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta should have been punished for his outburst after loss to Newcastle

Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has slammed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his comments after his side's 1-0 loss to Newcastle United at the start of November.

The Magpies secured all three points from the encounter thanks to Anthony Gordon's second-half strike. The English attacker's goal was flagged for review by VAR.

The review showed three different incidents in the build-up play, including the ball seemingly going out of play, a potential foul on Gabriel Magalhaes, and an offside check for Gordon.

However, the goal was given after completing the check. Arteta was infuriated by the decision, and he lashed out in the post-match press conference, labeling the refereeing a 'disgrace'.

The FA then issued a misconduct charge for the Spanish boss, who claimed he was misunderstood due to a wrong translation after the fact. He was acquitted last week after an independent regulatory commission delivered its verdict (via TNT Sports).

Carragher, however, believes Arteta should be punished for his actions. The Liverpool icon said on the Stick to Football podcast (via Football365):

“I think some of the bookings he’s got – the over celebrating, the odd thing where you think, ‘Come on, there’s no need for that’. But I do think he shouldn’t have got away with – once he’d been charged with what he said after Newcastle, and the defence was there was a translation difference between what you’d say in Spain about something was a disgrace, it means something different in Spain. That was nonsense."

Arsenal will next face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday (December 23).

---

Chris Sutton makes interesting prediction for Liverpool vs Arsenal

Former Chelsea forward Chris Sutton has backed Liverpool to edge a victory over Arsenal this Saturday. The pundit has backed the Reds to win 2-1 against the Gunners.

While giving his predictions for this weekend's Premier League fixtures, the pundit told BBC Sport:

"Arsenal will be bolder than Manchester United were at Anfield last week, but then Sheffield United would probably show more attacking intent than Erik ten Hag's side did. I still think it will be pretty cagey because the Gunners are not as expansive as they were last season, but they still carry a threat."

He added:

"There is this argument that they are lacking a centre-forward, which I get, but they have shown they can get goals from all areas of their team. So, I think this will be tight, but Liverpool are at home and I just don't see them drawing another blank. They only know one way to play, they will take the game to Arsenal - and I think they will edge it."

The Gunners and the Reds have just one point between them, with the former leading the league table at the moment. Their upcoming encounter should certainly have great implications for this season's title race.

Arsenal have won only three of their last ten meetings with the Merseysiders across competitions, with Liverpool winning five and two draws.