Liverpool could be set to welcome several players back from injury ahead of their next Premier League fixture, but one official announcement pertaining to that game against Chelsea on 31 January won’t please Reds fans.
The league’s website confirmed the appointments of match officials for the next round of fixtures, and the man in the middle for the Blues’ visit to Anfield will be Paul Tierney.
Andy Madley, who took charge of the 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Sunday, is fourth official, with John Brooks on VAR, assisted by Sian Massey-Ellis. James Mainwaring, Scott Ledger will be the assistant referees running either touchline.
Tierney and Liverpool have quite the bit of history over the past two or three seasons – here’s a quick recap:
- Tottenham away, December 2021 – clear penalty against Diogo Jota not given, Harry Kane somehow avoids a red card for over-the-top lunge on Andy Robertson, who was later sent off for a separate incident
- Tottenham home, April 2023 – no sanction against Oliver Skipp for a nasty over-the-top challenge on Luis Diaz, who wasn’t long back from a six-month injury layoff
- Burnley away, December 2023 – Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott have goals disallowed; Darwin Nunez harshly adjudged to have fouled Charlie Taylor in lead-up to former, Mo Salah was pushed offside for the latter
- Bournemouth away, last Sunday – Tierney on VAR fails to intervene for dangerous Justin Kluivert lunge on Diaz, for which on-field referee Andy Madley didn’t even give a foul
Jurgen Klopp hasn’t minced his words when previously discussing the 43-year-old (Sky Sports), and Liverpool fans will be hoping that for once a game involving that particular official can pass off without any major flashpoint.
We don’t want to be continually honing in on referees after matches – we acknowledge that they undertake an incredibly difficult and thankless job – but considering how high the stakes are at Premier League level, they also need to perform their duties to a better standard than what we’ve seen throughout the season so far.
Here’s hoping that the Reds see off Chelsea next week and that Tierney’s name will be nothing more than a footnote in match reports, instead of a controversial deciding dominating the post-match discussion.
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