Paul Tierney has been appointed as the referee for Liverpool’s trip to Nottingham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the lead VAR will be Stuart Attwell, who will be accompanied by the linesman who elbowed Andy Robertson in the face last season, Constantine Hatzidakis.
Hatzidakis faced no action from the FA after the incident.
On Saturday, Richard West and Scott Ledger will be Tierney’s assistants, while Graham Scott takes on the role of fourth official.
The match at the City Ground will be the fourth time Tierney has taken charge of a Liverpool game this season. In the past he has been known for his run-ins with Jurgen Klopp.
Research conducted by Paul Tomkins, last summer, showed that Liverpool’s win percentage decreases by around 10 percent when Tierney is referee for the Reds.
In comparison, Chelsea‘s increases by nearly 30 percent, Man City‘s by nearly 20 percent and Man United‘s by eight percent.
This has changed slightly since the start of the season, with Liverpool winning all three of the matches he has been in the middle for this campaign.
All three of those have come since November – the 3-0 win vs. Brentford, 2-0 vs. Burnley, and the 4-1 rout against Chelsea at Anfield.
In his career, only Man City have been refereed by Tierney more often than Liverpool. However, as the video assistant referee, he has officiated 12 Liverpool matches, four of those this season, more than anyone else.
In the past, Klopp has had many run-ins with the referee from Wigan, saying in 2021, after a controversial 2-2 draw against Tottenham: “I have no problems with any referees, only you.”
They will become LFC’s joint most common ref&var combination in the PL. https://t.co/YnVO6y2A9n pic.twitter.com/xAUxgMhR0K
— Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) February 27, 2024
Several flashpoints later, in 2023, Klopp was banned for two matches and fined after another match against Tottenham spilled over.
This time, it was a result of him ‘implying bias’, according to the FA, with Klopp’s post-match comments of Tierney allegedly telling him that he would have awarded a red card for celebrating Diogo Jota‘s winner in front of fourth official John Brooks.
Thankfully, this season’s contests have been calmer, but a tricky task awaits on Saturday and, as we saw again at Wembley, Liverpool aren’t getting an easy ride from the officials this year.
