Unai Emery: Villa boss furious with VAR for not sending off Elliot Anderson

In the Premier League, we have become used to a higher threshold for serious foul play.

Often we will hear an explanation that contact is ‘glancing’, or ‘lacking in force’.

That is not the case with Uefa, whose referees are always told to apply a strict interpretation for any challenge which could endanger the safety of an opponent.

There are three reasons why a red card should be the expected outcome here.

Firstly, Watkins was hit above the boot. Uefa tells its referees this is a trigger for possible serious foul play.

Force and intensity still have to be considered, and two factors underline this.

Anderson was sliding into the tackle with a degree of pace. This indicates a lower level of control than if, say, he was stepping into the challenge. It is this aspect which really ticks the box for a red card.

Contact on Watkins was with a straight leg, too, which suggests greater force impact on the opponent compared to when the leg is bent.

Winning the ball does not over-ride how a player makes a challenge, either.

As the referee did not even give a foul, he cannot provide a description which fits the incident.

That puts the onus solely on the VAR to judge this as serious foul play. He decided against it.

As the VAR cannot advise that a yellow card should be shown, Anderson escaped unpunished.