Jurgen Klopp accused Gabriel Jesus of a “made up” fall in the box as Arsenal returned to the Premier League summit in a torrid thriller.
Jesus went down under Thiago Alcantara's challenge and Bukayo Saka held his nerve to fire the Gunners' winner from the spot.
But Liverpool manager Klopp, who lost England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and winger Luis Diaz to injury, was unimpressed – especially as his side was denied a first-half penalty when Gunners defender Gabriel escaped a blatant handball.
Sounding weary and downbeat, Klopp said: “What can I say now about that situation? He (referee Michael Oliver) thought immediately it’s a penalty, which is interesting but it's his decision.
“Mr England (VAR Darren England) had a look at it and thought as well it’s a penalty. We know in life if two refs think the same that is the truth and we have to live with.
“If I see the situation back, if there was contact - and I’m not sure there was contact but there might have been soft contact - the player (Jesus) was again on both feet and then down.
“That’s an indication that something might have been made up - but not for the refs.
“They thought it’s a clear not a handball in the first half when Diogo Jota put the ball on Gabriel’s arm. We cannot change that.
“A couple of things went against us but we are not blind, we see we could have done better in moments. In general it was a good away game against a good side. We caused them a lot of problems but stand here with no points.”
Liverpool are now a whopping 14 points behind Arsenal after just nine games, and Klopp conceded: “We are not in the title race. It's naïve to sit here and think that we are nearly there.
“We have massive problems at the moment, and I think even in a really bad situation for us, with early changes and things like this, there are real problems and that is the truth for us.”
Diaz hobbled away from the Emirates on crutches and with his knee in a brace, while Alexander-Arnold has an ankle injury.
"It doesn't look good for both,” groaned Klopp. “That is the icing on the cake."
After eight games, Liverpool are enduring their worst start to a season for 10 years and defender Virgil van Dijk admitted: “It's tough to take but they are in the best moment of their lives and it's hard to lose to a penalty like that.
“But if you are not winning, in the way we are used to, confidence is creeping away.”
