Liverpool booked their place in the Carabao Cup final as they capitalised on their first-leg advantage and held a spirited Fulham to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

Luis Diaz’s opener was cancelled out by Issa Diop but the Red’s dug deep in the second leg to claim a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Liverpool will face Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea at Wembley on February 25, two years after defeating the Blues in both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals.

A fired up Fulham came out of the blocks fighting as they looked to overturn a 2-1 deficit.

After Joao Palhinha’s first-time volley from Andreas Pereira’s corner sailed over, the hosts continued to push through the overlapping Antonee Robinson whose dangerous delivery failed to connect with a white shirt.

But a moment of complacency saw Liverpool strike the first blow in the 11th minute.

Jarell Quansah sent a long ball forward which appeared routine for Timothy Castagne to claim but the full-back was caught napping by Diaz.

The winger reacted quickly to beat him in the air before he drove into the box and scored past Bernd Leno at his near post.

Diaz had the ball in the back of the net again after Darwin Nunez exploited large gaps between centre-backs Tosin Adarabioyo and Diop but the goal was ruled offside after the striker naively moved too soon.

The Cottagers sought inspiration through Raul Jimenez and the Mexico international’s long-range shot forced Caoimhin Kelleher into action when he tipped the ball wide for a corner.

The hosts, now galvanised, enjoyed a five-minute flurry but despite Willian’s attempt from distance and Tom Cairney finding promising pockets, Marco Silva’s men failed to get the goal they desperately needed.

Fulham’s momentum continued after the break but so did their poor day in front of goal. Second-choice keeper Kelleher failed to collect a high ball, losing out to Bobby Decordova-Reid before Pereira found the post from a tight angle instead of the open net.

Liverpool appeared to have rode the storm and began to turn the screw themselves. After Nunez’s effort whistled past Leno’s left post in the 63rd minute, powerful midfielder Ryan Gravenberch did well to get the ball out of his feet before producing a driven strike which missed the target, much to the delight of Leno who would have been well-beaten.

Fulham blew the tie wide open when they scored in the 77th minute.

Harry Wilson drove down the left and curved a cross into the area where he found Diop, who had galloped forward from the back and expertly claimed the leveller with a neat finish past the keeper.

The west Londoners pushed for a dramatic ending and to take the tie into extra-time but a stubborn Liverpool held on through four added minutes.

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal need a psychological “reset” after they could not capitalise on chances in their 2-0 FA Cup third-round loss to Liverpool at the Emirates.

The Gunners dominated the first half but Jakub Kiwior conceded an own goal after 80 minutes before Luis Diaz’s neat finish in second half added-time was enough for Jurgen Klopp’s men to claim victory.

Arteta’s side now have just one win in seven matches across all competitions and the boss agreed his side risk falling into a mental slump after failing to find the finishing touch.

He said: “Probably it has (become a psychological issue). Especially after today, more than it was against Fulham or West Ham before that. That’s why I think we need to reset. This break is good. It comes in a good time.

“We’re going to as well feel how we feel and how I feel about them in difficult moments. Hopefully I can see that from other people too. When things are going well they jump on the train. Now things are difficult, let’s see where they stand.

“We haven’t capitalised. Not just today, but in the last few games as well. That’s why we’re not winning games. Merit-wise there is no question that we deserve to win the games but the results are very different.

“But when my team plays with that courage and attitude against probably the best team in Europe right now in terms of momentum what can I do but stick by them and support them?

“What we need to do now is stick behind those players, give them some love, train them and make sure they visualise something very different to what is actually happening now. They’ve done it. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, because they’ve done it.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was delighted by his side’s second-half reply, but brushed aside any suggestion he might look at the result as a harbinger for the Premier League title race, or even a boost for the Reds’ confidence in that chase.

He said: “No. I can’t (read into it). It doesn’t mean nobody can, but I can’t. We don’t have a problem with belief and confidence, we are not really bothered about the things you are talking about because we can read the calendar.

“We see it’s January; it’s cold outside, stuff like this, and you just have to stay warm and play as good as you can, and that’s what we try.”

Klopp was more forthcoming about his squad, rattling off a list of injured and absent, including Virgil van Dijk, who was ruled out with illness before the contest but remains a “hopeful” return for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with Fulham.

He added: “It’s a tough game, nobody comes to Arsenal and wins just like this [clicks fingers], so in this game there will be difficult moments [and] if we start in these moments – which humans very often do – [looking] for excuses and then we realise who else is not here, it’s normal that we have these problems, then we are screwed.

“But if you know these kinds of things you can avoid it – and that’s what we did. The boys enjoyed the game, at least in the second half. That’s really cool. Staying in a game that looked in the first half like that, then growing into a game, is a pretty special thing to do.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold hailed Liverpool’s late victory after their 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup third round.

Jakub Kiwior conceded an own goal after 80 minutes before Luis Diaz’s neat finish in second half added-time was enough for Jurgen Klopp’s men to claim victory.

Liverpool struggled to get going in the opening 45 before they found their rhythm late on to book their place in the fourth round.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Alexander-Arnold said: “It was a huge win. We had a lot of players missing today. We came here with one objective, which was to win and to get into the next round and we have done that with two late goals.

“We had chances and we changed things at half-time internally. We came out and played football, created chances, the changes we made had an impact for us.

“There were times in the first half where we were a bit naive. We had mistakes, a sloppy pass here and there.”

Alexander-Arnold’s whipped corner led to Kiwior nodding the ball past Aaron Ramsdale and into his own net.

He added: “The inswingers (crosses) you want to make as difficult as possible and that’s the aim, to make it as hard as possible for them to clear the ball. Any flick from one of their players could potentially go in.”

Liverpool continue to battle on four fronts after Jakub Kiwior’s own goal and a stoppage-time strike by Luis Diaz sent them through to the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win at Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were without captain Virgil van Dijk and Mohamad Salah, but after they were able to ride their luck in north London, stand-in skipper Trent Alexander-Arnold’s excellent late cross forced the opener and Diaz was able to wrap up a hard-fought victory with a powerful late finish.

It inflicted a fourth defeat in seven matches on Arsenal, who fired another blank despite creating a plethora of chances at the Emirates to leave manager Mikel Arteta with problems to solve ahead of their short mid-season break.

The two Premier League title rivals – choosing not to wear red in support of Arsenal’s anti-knife crime initiative – played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield a fortnight ago and while both managers picked strong teams, a handful of changes were made with Aaron Ramsdale given the nod.

The Gunners goalkeeper was immediately into the thick of the action but in an attacking sense with a wonderful pass sending Reiss Nelson through on goal although he could only fire into the side-netting after rounding Alisson.

Nelson had been given a rare starting berth with Eddie Nketiah dropped and Gabriel Jesus out with a knee injury, which resulted in Kai Havertz leading the line.

Havertz tested Alisson with an early curled effort before the opener should have arrived in the 11th minute.

Bukayo Saka robbed Joe Gomez of possession and found the unmarked Havertz, who teed up Nelson and while Ibrahima Konate slide in, Martin Odegaard was first to the loose ball but he crashed an effort against the crossbar and Liverpool survived.

Klopp’s side waited until midway through the first half for their opening chance when Darwin Nunez headed wide from a Harvey Elliott corner.

It did not mark a shift in the ascendancy though with Havertz wasting a fine opening before Alisson tipped over a stinging drive from Ben White.

From the resulting corner Saka picked out Havertz at the back post, but the Germany international headed wide from six yards.

Not even treatment for Liverpool’s young defender Jarell Quansah halted Arsenal’s momentum with Havertz again denied by Alisson a minute before half-time.

Arsenal very nearly paid for their first-half profligacy when Cody Gakpo teed up Alexander-Arnold but the stand-in captain struck the crossbar with his superb 16-yard strike to ensure it remained goalless at the break.

Liverpool initially came out with improved intent for the second half and Curtis Jones curled over before Nunez flashed an effort wide.

Normal service soon resumed with Saka only able to hook over from a Havertz cross, before Alisson showed his class on the hour mark. Another Havertz delivery took a deflection off Quansah and looked to be heading in until the Reds goalkeeper brilliantly clawed the ball away, with Saka slicing wide on the follow-up.

Frustration was growing at the Emirates and as Klopp turned to his bench with Diogo Jota and Ryan Gravenberch introduced, Arteta made his first roll of the dice.

Gabriel Martinelli’s entrance injected renewed hope for an agitated home crowd, but Ramsdale was called upon with 13 minutes remaining to push wide a low effort by Diaz.

Jota headed against the bar from Alexander-Arnold’s resulting corner and yet his next delivery produced the breakthrough.

Odegaard fouled Gravenberch close to the byline and Alexander-Arnold’s fine inswinging cross was headed beyond a diving Ramsdale by the unfortunate Kiwior.

Arsenal pushed for a late leveller but Liverpool’s place in round four was confirmed when Diaz smashed home after a slick counter-attack in the fifth minute of added-time.

Liverpool have flown Luis Diaz’s parents to Merseyside so they can spend Christmas with their son after their recent kidnapping ordeal.

Cilenis Marulanda was freed almost immediately after being taken by guerrilla group the National Liberation Army earlier this month but father Luis Manuel was held captive for 12 days until being released late last week.

Diaz was reunited with his parents when he returned to Colombia for international duty and the pair were in the crowd to see their son score both goals in an emotional 2-1 victory at home to Brazil on Thursday.

The PA news agency understands that following the game Liverpool paid for a private jet, for security reasons and to help manage the family’s trauma, to bring Diaz’s parents and wider family to Merseyside so they could spend an extended period of time together.

Their plane was scheduled to land at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport early on Saturday morning.

Since Diaz’s parents were kidnapped, the club have endeavoured to provide the best possible support, with manager Jurgen Klopp allowing Diaz compassionate leave and leaving decisions about when he trained and was available for selection entirely up to the player, in keeping with the family values they believe are vital to the club’s ethos.

Diaz will rejoin his family in Liverpool when he returns from international duty after their match in Paraguay on Tuesday.

He will be on a flight with the club’s other South American players Alisson Becker, who was beaten twice by his club-mate in their game in Barranquilla in the far north of Colombia, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez – who faced each other in Argentina’s 2-1 defeat by Uruguay – in a plane jointly chartered by a number of Premier League clubs to return their players home as expediently as possible.

Liverpool head to Manchester City in a top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad Stadium next Saturday lunchtime.

Luis Diaz scored twice as Colombia stunned Brazil 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier, days after his father was released by kidnappers.

The Liverpool striker netted twice in four minutes late in the second half, watched by his father Luiz Manuel Diaz who was held for 12 days before his release last week.

Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli had put Brazil in front after just four minutes.

Colombia’s first win over Brazil for eight years lifts them into third in the South American qualifying table with Brazil, who suffered a second successive defeat in the competition, down to fifth.

On a night of surprises, goals from Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez saw Uruguay beat Argentina 2-0.

Lionel Messi struggled to impose himself, hitting the crossbar in the second half as Argentina’s 100% record since lifting the World Cup was ended.

Uruguay’s win lifts them to second in the table, two points behind Argentina.

Venezuela are in fourth after a goalless draw with Ecuador, Chile and Paraguay also drawing a blank while Bolivia won the battle of the bottom two with a 2-0 win over Peru.

Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool’s players have created a “safe place” for Luis Diaz in the days since his father was kidnapped in Colombia.

The 26-year-old came off the bench in the 83rd minute of the team’s 1-1 draw with Luton on Sunday and scored a dramatic equaliser deep into added time.

It was his first appearance since his father, Luis Manuel Diaz, was abducted in the town of Barrancas on October 28.

The striker was absent for Liverpool’s wins over Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth but marked a sensational return to action by heading in Harvey Elliott’s cross five minutes into stoppage time at Kenilworth Road.

The group responsible for the abduction, the National Liberation Army, has asked for “security guarantees” in exchange for his father’s release.

Following the game against Luton, Van Dijk said: “He’s been training with us, knowing that it’s so fresh, what’s going on. He feels like being with us is a safe place, so it helps him.

“We’re here for him. We mentioned it last week, it’s an absolutely horrible situation. Hopefully there will be a solution. We’ll be here for him and everybody should support him. Hopefully it will be sorted as soon as possible.”

Liverpool had looked set to fall to a shock defeat before Diaz’s late intervention, falling behind 10 minutes from time to a goal by Luton substitute Tahith Chong.

“He’s still disappointed because he also wanted to win,” said Van Dijk. “There’s a lot of emotions in his head. It must have been (meant to be) that he should have scored. I’m happy for him, but hopefully we can get his father back as soon as possible.

“You can’t imagine it, that’s the scary part. The only thing we can do is hope they will find him safe and sound and they get him back to his family.

“When it happened it was a shock to everyone. We spoke about it and it should give us extra motivation. He doesn’t want us to suffer from what he’s going through, he wants us to take fuel from it.”

In front of a raucous home support, the visitors struggled to break down Luton for long periods as they sought the win that would have put them second in the Premier League.

Darwin Nunez in particular was guilty of wasteful finishing when chances came, hitting the bar in the first half before conspiring to balloon an effort over from three yards out after the break.

“I don’t think it was down to the atmosphere,” said Van Dijk. “We had the first chance after half-an-hour. Score that one and it’s a completely different game.

“We didn’t and then they need one opportunity. Their results here this season have been very small margins. That’s down to how they play, they defend compact and solid.

“I respect that, but we could have made it a lot easier.”

Luis Diaz ended a traumatic week by coming off the bench to save Liverpool from a shock defeat at Luton with a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Substitute Tahith Chong looked to have secured a sensational Hatters win when he finished off a superb break to slot past Alisson 10 minutes from time.

On their first league visit in more than 30 years, Liverpool appeared rocked by a raucous atmosphere inside Kenilworth Road and were never at their free-flowing best against a side that dug in, ground out and waited for their chance.

And Chong’s goal looked to have been decisive until Diaz, who came off the bench seven minutes from the end for his first appearance since his father was kidnapped in Colombia, got his head on Harvey Elliott’s cross five minutes into added time to deny Luton a famous win.

Diaz lifted his shirt in celebration to reveal a message on a white T-shirt that read ‘libertad para papa’ or ‘freedom for my father’.

Liverpool sought the victory that would move them second in the table, but the first half was a test of their patience as Luton executed an organised, determined plan to stymy their attacking advances.

Darwin Nunez tested the reflexes of goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski early on, striking from outside the box and drawing a diving save from the Luton goalkeeper low to his left.

Nunez went closer still when his first-time effort struck the top of the crossbar from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb pass from deep in midfield.

Mohamed Salah sliced an effort over after Luton failed to clear Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, but on the whole the hosts contained Liverpool well during the opening 25 minutes.

Ryan Gravenberch looked to inject urgency into a ponderous attacking display with a bursting run through the centre, laying the ball off to Diogo Jota who had made a smart run, but after an intelligent dash into space his shot was too close to Kaminski.

From the resulting corner, Alexander-Arnold hit a first-time drive that was blocked inside a crowded penalty area, encapsulating Liverpool’s half.

At the other end, Alfie Doughty and Chiedozie Ogbene linked up well down the left and worked the ball into the middle where Ross Barkley had found space. Unmarked and with a free hit at goal, the former Everton midfielder thumped his 20-yard effort over the bar as Luton’s best opening of the half came and went.

The second half brought with it a growing sense that a single goal might decide things, and Edwards’ side were credible candidates.

In the 63rd minute, Ogbene, a thorn in Liverpool’s right-hand side throughout, raced away from Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate and cut the ball back for Carlton Morris.

It looked for a moment like his contact would be sufficient to beat Alisson, but Liverpool’s goalkeeper had narrowed the angle between Morris and the goal, and the ball spun to safety.

Salah and Nunez conspired between them to miss the game’s best chance so far with 20 minutes to go.

The Egyptian was left unmarked six yards out and nodded towards his team-mate despite Kaminski being exposed. Nunez had time and space but not the composure required to crack the game open, and he ballooned horribly over.

Yet Liverpool’s threat was undoubtedly growing. Nunez made a better job of his next chance, hammering towards the near post from Salah’s pass but again Kaminski was his equal to fist it over the top.

With 10 minutes to go the moment for which home fans had patiently waited arrived, and it began with Liverpool on the attack.

It was Barkley that collected the ball as a corner routine for the visitors broke down, carrying it up over the halfway line with Liverpool committed and pushing it wide on the right into the path of Issa Kabore.

His low cross into the box landed perfectly for Chong who did not even break stride as he guided the ball with consummate cool past Alisson to send a shockwave of noise around Kenilworth Road.

It was all Liverpool after that and they snatched an equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Elliott’s ball into the box was delivered well, and as Luton lost concentration there was Diaz to nod home and rescue his side.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his “smart” players understand and embrace the increased competition for places up front.

The five forwards he has at his disposal have contributed 30 goals so far this season but only Mohamed Salah, who has 10, is a guaranteed starter every week.

Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz -unavailable for the last two matches due to his father’s kidnapping in Colombia – have all made an impact when they have been selected and despite Klopp’s rotation they all appear to gel well together.

“The boys are all smart. The good thing is we have really only smart players, that means they understand they cannot play all the games,” he said.

“It’s not, ‘I want to play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday.’ That’s just not possible but everybody sees (it that way) as well.

“That’s how a smart footballer should think and our boys do that: ‘If I can’t play then it’s better we have another really good player who can play the position’. That’s exactly how I see it.

“It’s only four (because of Diaz’s absence) all of a sudden but there are a lot of games still coming if you see the schedule – after the international break it turns completely crazy – so in that time we have to be ready.

“If you want to play a successful season and not only have successful spells, you need the boys through all these different phases.

“We have to get through this and with not a lot of injuries (and then) we have really the joys but if not the boys have just to fight through it.

“For the moment it’s OK, but we need it like this for pretty much the rest of the season, to be honest.”

Of all their front five Cody Gakpo is probably the unsung hero.

The Netherlands international has scored on his last four starts, netting the first goal in three of those, but has been the player sacrificed the most to accommodate holes in the squad as he started the campaign in midfield.

“If we have everybody available it was never the plan to put Cody there but it was for him something new after (playing) the false nine last year,” added Klopp.

“But he’s a super-smart player so he can adapt to that and we want him to adapt.

“He’s just a versatile striker, he can play everywhere up front there. For us it’s super-important. He arrives in the box, he is a good shooter, he has a good nose for the situation.

“How I said, the boys up front all like each other, there’s not this battle of ‘Will I start?’ They know they can all play together.”

Liverpool head to Luton on Sunday looking for their first clean sheet away from Anfield in any competition this season but are on six-match unbeaten run, winning the last four.

As it stands they are in a four-way race for the title but Klopp is keen not to get too excited about how well they have started.

“It’s so early. I’m so happy that we have a really good team together but look at the other teams, they are really good as well,” he said.

“A lot of really good teams are out there and it’s the Premier League so it’s not about celebrating the moment and being relieved that we kind of can play football again.

“No, it’s really about digging into the season, use the full potential of this group, get everything out of it and then let’s see.”

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz has trained this week but manager Jurgen Klopp will allow the player to decide whether he wants to be involved at the weekend.

The Colombia international’s father is still missing after being kidnapped last week and although there have been suggestions in South America he may soon be set free the 26-year-old has understandably had a difficult few days.

“He was in training two days ago, yesterday he had a session and will be part of the team (training),” said Klopp ahead of Sunday’s trip to Luton.

“We must wait. If he feels right, he will be here and train with us. The session he had with us, you can see when he is with the boys he is fine, he is OK, but you could see he didn’t sleep a lot.

“We have to see how he is and we go from there. The news from Colombia gives us a little bit of hope. We are waiting for the really good news but that’s it pretty much.

“I cannot say what we will do because we just wait where we can pick up the boy from and go from there.

“But it’s all about him, if he makes himself available or not, and I will not force anything.”

Colombian police are searching a mountain range in the north of the country for the kidnapped father of Liverpool forward Luis Diaz.

Diaz’s mother has been rescued but the Colombian authorities have stepped up the search for his father, with the player having returned home to be with family members.

Police have been carrying out aerial patrols across the Perija mountain range, which straddles the border with Venezuela and is covered by a forest.

In a post on social media, Colombian police director general William Salamanca was shown visiting the operation in order to “recognise our commandos for their bravery and commitment to rescue him safe and sound”.

Police have offered a reward worth around £39,000 for information leading to the rescue of Luis Manuel Diaz.

On Monday Salamanca urged caution with regards to reports that Luis Manuel might already have been taken into Venezuela, pointing to the difficulty of crossing the Perija mountains.

Both FIFA and the Colombia Football Federation have offered support to Diaz, 26, while Liverpool allowed the player to return home.

Speaking after Sunday’s 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said preparation for the game had been “the most difficult I’ve ever had in my life”.

Klopp added: “I didn’t expect that, I wasn’t prepared for it. I don’t want to make the game bigger than it was, but definitely, we tried to help Luis with the fight we put in because obviously we want to help and we cannot really help.

“So the only thing we can do is fight for him and that’s what the boys did.”

Liverpool said in a statement: “Liverpool Football Club can confirm it is aware of an ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz in Colombia.

“It is our fervent hope that the matter is resolved safely and at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime, the player’s welfare will continue to be our immediate priority.”

Liverpool signed Diaz from Porto in January 2022 in an initial £37.5million deal that included a potential extra £12.5million in add-ons.

Liverpool have confirmed an “ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz” amid reports the forward’s parents were kidnapped in Colombia.

Colombia’s president said Diaz’s mother “has been rescued” but his father remains missing.

Liverpool said they were supporting the player and he sat out the Reds’ Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

“Liverpool Football Club can confirm it is aware of an ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz in Colombia,” read a club statement.

“It is our fervent hope that the matter is resolved safely and at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime, the player’s welfare will continue to be our immediate priority.”

Colombia president Gustavo Petro said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “In an operation in Barrancas, Luis Diaz’s mother has been rescued, we continue the search for the father.”

The country’s football federation said in a statement that the kidnapping was regrettable and urged authorities to rescue Diaz’s father.

“The Colombian Football Federation rejects the security situation that the parents of our player Luis Díaz are going through,” they said.

“From the FCF we express our solidarity with him and his entire family and we call for the relevant authorities to act as quickly as possible to resolve the situation.”

Liverpool signed Diaz from Porto in January 2022 in an initial £37.5million deal that included a potential extra £12.5million in add-ons.

The 26-year-old winger has made 11 appearances this season and scored three goals.

Diaz was an unused substitute for Thursday’s 5-1 Europa League win against Toulouse after starting the Premier League victory over Everton last weekend.

He was not in the 18-strong squad that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp named for Forest’s Premier League visit to Anfield.

VARs Darren England and Daniel Cook will return to Premier League duty this weekend following their error in last month’s fixture between Tottenham and Liverpool.

England and Cook were the VAR and VAR assistant respectively when Liverpool forward Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside in Tottenham’s 2-1 home win.

Both officials were stood down the following week, but England will be back as the fourth official for Brentford’s home game against Burnley on Saturday and Cook will return as assistant referee for Sheffield United’s home match against Manchester United.

Miscommunication between VAR England and referee Simon Hooper led to Diaz’s goal being wrongly ruled out on September 30, with the incident later described by referees’ chief Howard Webb as “a clear error”.

Hooper is the designated VAR for Newcastle’s home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

New VAR guidelines were introduced in the wake of the Diaz disallowed goal controversy, while audio of the incident was later released.

England mistakenly thought the on-field officials had ruled Diaz to be onside, which meant that when he told them ‘check complete’ they believed he had upheld their on-field decision and restarted play with a free-kick.

Once play had restarted, there was nothing the VARs could do to revisit the decision under existing protocols.

Referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said it would develop a new VAR communication protocol in an effort to avoid similar mistakes being made in future.

PGMOL said the protocol would “enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions”.

VARs will now also confirm the outcome of the checking process with the assistant VAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials.

One of the talking points from the latest round of fixtures was referee Michael Oliver’s decision not to send off Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic for a challenge on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.

The City midfielder was shown a yellow card before avoiding another shortly afterwards and Webb later admitted Kovacic was “fortunate” to stay on the pitch.

Oliver will referee Sheffield United’s home game against Manchester United on Saturday.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has raised the prospect of the game’s lawmakers examining whether audio between referees and VARs should be available live.

Miscommunication between VAR Darren England and referee Simon Hooper led to a Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham being wrongly disallowed last month, leading to further calls for such conversations to be played out in real time.

The incident caused huge controversy, with Reds manager Jurgen Klopp even calling for the match to be replayed.

Broadcasting the conversations between on-field officials and VARs live is currently prohibited under football’s laws.

Bullingham, who is a director at the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which has the power to change the game’s laws, said the organisation had discussed the subject but added: “Generally there is a split in the room over that, and quite often it is between the marketing and commercial people and the referees.

“Our point of view, from the marketing and commercial perspective, would normally be that transparency is a really good thing, and we want fans to have the maximum experience.”

Bullingham said an ongoing FIFA trial where referees announce and explain the outcome of an on-field review is a “step in the right direction” but added: “My personal point of view is I do think (live audio) will continue to be a question over time, because the greater transparency shows how difficult the referee’s job is, and it has worked in other sport.

“There is an understandable nervousness from others that the referee’s job is hard enough as it is. In a tournament you have referees with multiple languages, so it is not as straightforward as some might suggest.

“So I think we are taking a step in the right direction with announcing the decision and explaining why it has been reached. Let’s see if that leads to further progression.”

Bullingham’s Irish FA counterpart and fellow IFAB director Patrick Nelson spoke more cautiously on the VAR decision-making process, adding: “We just need to see more evidence on this at the moment.

“It’s interesting when we look at recent examples but we still need to remember that VAR as an entire concept is relatively in its infancy compared to the game of football and compared to IFAB. There is still more that we can learn.”

The PA news agency understands the IFAB is set to open up the trial of in-stadium announcements by referees beyond FIFA events to other interested competitions.

The IFAB may also look again at the wording of Principle 10 in the VAR protocol, which currently prevents VARs from revisiting a decision once play has restarted and meant the officials could not call play back after the Diaz error.

It could be updated to allow a decision to be revisited where a clear mistake has occurred, and where no significant action has taken place since play restarted.

Bullingham also said he was aware IFAB had been asked to consider widening the scope of VAR to rule on decisions such as corner kick and free-kick awards.

“I think we would be really reluctant to have a game that was stopped a lot more than it currently is, but that will be a proper discussion,” he added.

VAR interventions are currently limited to goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity.

The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.

Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.

Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.

PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.

In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made.

“Offside, goal, yeah. That’s wrong that, Daz,” Cook is heard saying.

England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match.

England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred.

Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.

PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR.

“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR).

“The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match.

“The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.”

England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.

The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash.

PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials.

The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL.

A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.

“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.

“We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.”

England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match.

PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”