Liverpool have discovered the identity of the referee for their top-flight clash at home to Crystal Palace next Sunday.
The Premier League have confirmed the appointments of match officials for the weekend’s fixtures, with Chris Kavanagh set to take charge of the game at Anfield.
Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan will run the touchlines, with Keith Stroud as fourth official. Michael Oliver is on VAR, with assistance from Stuart Burt.
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This will be Kavanagh’s fifth time taking charge of a Liverpool game this season, having refereed the home wins over West Ham and Nottingham Forest, as well as the Carabao Cup final (Transfermarkt).
He was also the man in the middle for the 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Anfield in December, when he missed a blatant handball by Martin Odegaard in the penalty area and was subsequently done no favours by David Coote, who had the luxury of VAR and still somehow failed to intervene.
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Oliver was also at the centre of a spot kick storm in a meeting of two title rivals on Merseyside this term, having neglected to sanction Jeremy Doku for a high tackle on Alexis Mac Allister when Manchester City visited L4 a month ago. He too was let down by Stuart Attwell in Stockley Park.
Let’s hope that Liverpool can get the better of Palace for the second time in 2023/24 – a repeat of the 1-1 draw when the Eagles last came to Anfield would be a huge dent to our title hopes – and also that Kavanagh and his refereeing team aren’t dominating the post-match discussion.