Despite being recently involved in Liverpool controversy, David Coote has again been appointed as lead VAR for Liverpool’s next Premier League match at Brentford.
Admittedly, it is hard to find a refereeing group who have not been involved in a high-profile incident when it comes to the Reds, and this weekend is no different.
In December, Liverpool were denied a stonewall penalty at home to Arsenal and referee chief Howard Webb confirmed a mistake was made when Coote dismissed the obvious Martin Odegaard handball.
Incredibly, he was then appointed as VAR for the next meeting between the two teams in January.
And now he is back again having been appointed to oversee VAR when Liverpool make the trip to Brentford for Saturday’s lunchtime kickoff.
This is the fifth time this season Coote has been on VAR duty for a Liverpool match in the Premier League, which is 20 percent of their games.
Of course, the Arsenal match is not the only reason why he is unpopular among Reds, as he was the one who ‘forgot‘ to check Jordan Pickford’s recklass tackle that ended Virgil van Dijk‘s season in 2020/21.
The referee at the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday will be Michael Oliver, who is widely regarded as one of the Premier League‘s best officials.
Oliver has overseen the Reds twice this season, in their 3-1 win at Wolves and the painful stalemate against Man United back in December, when he sent off Diogo Dalot with two quick yellow cards.
Stuart Burt and Dan Cook – not the same one involved in the Luis Diaz farce – will be Oliver’s assistants on the touchline, while Graham Scott is fourth official.
Tim Wood will, again, assist Coote in the VAR booth – let’s hope we’re not forced to talk about events off the pitch again this weekend!
