Jamie Carragher has indeed raised questions about Premier League officials regarding a specific moment in an Everton vs. Liverpool match involving an offside goal controversy, likely tied to the April 2, 2025, Merseyside derby at Anfield. Everton claimed an offside should have been called in the build-up to Diogo Jota’s decisive goal.
In that match, Carragher didn’t directly comment on the offside decision in real-time punditry as he wasn’t on Sky Sports duty for that specific game. However, his history of scrutinizing officiating decisions, especially in Everton-Liverpool clashes, aligns with your query. The offside controversy stemmed from Luis Diaz’s position when Ryan Gravenberch played a ball forward, forcing Everton’s James Tarkowski to slide in and intercept. Everton argued Diaz, standing offside, interfered with Tarkowski’s ability to clear, but VAR upheld the goal, deeming Diaz inactive as he made no move toward the ball. Jota later scored from Diaz’s backheel, securing the win.
Carragher’s reaction to this type of incident can be inferred from his past outbursts. For instance, in a different 2023 Everton-Liverpool match, he called a disallowed Luis Diaz goal against Tottenham a “f*** up” by officials when VAR failed to correct a tight offside call, noting the delay in PGMOL’s response signaled an error. Here, though, the VAR process was swift—under 60 seconds—and no lines were publicly shown, leaving Everton fans and players, like Jarrad Branthwaite, fuming. Manager David Moyes called it an “easy” offside decision, while pundits like Joe Hart defended the call, arguing Diaz’s inactivity justified it.
Carragher’s specific take on this April 2025 offside moment isn’t explicitly documented in real-time commentary from that game, but his pattern of questioning officiating blunders suggests he’d have spotlighted any perceived inconsistency. Given his focus on the Tarkowski red card incident from the same match—where he blasted VAR’s Paul Tierney for not upgrading a yellow to red—he likely would’ve probed the offside call’s clarity and execution if given the platform. He’s previously criticized VAR for lacking transparency (e.g., no lines drawn in the 2023 Tottenham case), so he might’ve questioned why this call, despite its speed, left Everton feeling robbed without clear justification shown to fans.
