Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claims Jurgen Klopp has made ‘a big difference’ to Manchester United’s penalty count.
Last season Klopp alleged that the Old Trafford club had been awarded more spot kicks than his Liverpool side during five-and-a-half seasons at the helm.
United subsequently earned five penalties in their next 22 Premier League games, compared to six from their opening 16 in the previous campaign.
Although Solskjaer refused to namecheck Klopp directly, he believes that the remarks from the Reds’ boss has sown seeds of doubt in referees’ minds.
He said: “We just have to hope we get what we deserve. We should have had three pens in the last two games.
“There was a certain manager last year who was starting to worry about us getting penalties.
“After that, it seems like the decisions are more difficult to give [to us].
“Surely I’ve seen a big, big difference since then on. But we just have to leave it up to the refs and hope that they will make the right calls very soon.”
Solskjaer’s remarks could now be subject to investigation by the Football Association if it breaches the rules about managers commenting on referees.