Liverpool have unhappy memories of a particular Premier League referee, whom they will meet again in their clash with Tottenham this weekend.
John Brooks has been appointed to referee Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham on Saturday. Liverpool have unhappy memories of Brooks, who sent off Virgil van Dijk during their match against Newcastle United at St James’ Park in August 2023.
Van Dijk was dismissed for denying his now teammate, Alexander Isak, a goalscoring opportunity. The Liverpool skipper received an automatic one‑match ban before being handed an additional suspension and a £100,000 fine by the Football Association after refusing to leave the pitch and remonstrating with Brooks and fourth official Craig Pawson.
The Reds went on to win 2-1 despite playing with ten men for more than an hour, with Darwin Nunez coming off the bench to score twice. In February, Brooks was previously dropped from VAR duties for Liverpool's derby with Everton and Arsenal's clash with Manchester City, following his controversial decision to rule out Brighton's goal in their 1‑1 draw with Crystal Palace.
Brooks has since refereed four Liverpool matches, most recently the 2-1 Premier League win over Chelsea in October.
For the match against Tottenham, Anthony Taylor will act as the fourth official, with Stuart Attwell on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duty.
Last month, Attwell was criticised for a major decision in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Amadou Onana avoided a red card after he appeared to grab Alexis Mac Allister by the throat as Villa prepared to take a corner.
"The fact they were pushing and shoving each other and all right, he's raised his arm, probably a bit higher than he wanted, but he's pushing," said former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Sky Sports' Ref Watch programme.
"Stuart's [Attwell] got to decide, is it violent? Is it an act of brutality?
"He said: 'No,' he's obviously relayed to the VAR what he's seen, VAR has checked it back. The referee said, yellow card only."
On another occasion, during the League Cup semi-final first leg at Tottenham in January 2022, Attwell angered the Liverpool camp by failing to dismiss Lucas Bergvall, moments before that player scored the winner.
The 18-year-old was booked midway through the second half for a late challenge on Luis Diaz.
He then escaped a second yellow card moments before scoring after lunging in on Kostas Tsimikas.
Ahead of Saturday, it is another must‑win game for Liverpool in north London, with Slot's side aiming to secure back‑to‑back victories after recent draws against Sunderland and Leeds United.