'By the letter of the law Rice had to go'

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions.

James asked: Phil, the Declan Rice incident. I’m a Liverpool fan but I feel that this needs talking about. Veltman surely should have had a red card for kicking Rice? What reform would you make to aid the referring system where inconsistency seems to run the show?

Phil answered: Hi James. It’s hard to know what sort of system you could come up with to cure this because it was down to the referee Chris Kavanagh and there was inconsistency there.

By the letter of the law, and I know this is a phrase that grates, Declan Rice had to go for tapping the ball away from Joel Veltman as he shaped to take a free-kick. He said so himself.

Arsenal, however, will rightly complain that Joao Pedro went unpunished for lashing the ball away half the length of the field in the first half, although what Arteta was doing standing a couple of feet away from him well out of his technical area is a mystery.

Referee Kavanagh has also made a rod for his own back now because you can guarantee fans, especially Arsenal’s, will be watching to ensure he applies the law as strictly and consistently as he did on Saturday.

As for Veltman. I think you are right. It may have looked like an accident but that was a wild kick at Rice and he was very fortunate not be sent off.