Jurgen Klopp will be reunited with referee Simon Hooper for the final time when he oversees Liverpool’s clash with Aston Villa on Monday, and he will not be overjoyed with the news!
There are few referees that Klopp does not have history with considering he has spent nearly nine years in the Premier League, but he will not be forgetting Hooper once he leaves in the summer.
Hooper, of course, was the referee for that fixture at Tottenham earlier in the season, when Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz were sent off and the catastrophic VAR error took place.
He was fourth official in the defeat at Everton, and Klopp made sure to name-check the official when he previewed the clash against Tottenham last week.
He said: “Only the other night was the first time since Tottenham that Simon Hooper was standing next to me for 90 minutes in a game I didn’t enjoy in the first place against Everton.
“I tried to get it out of my head and couldn’t.”
And now Klopp will have to watch another Liverpool match with Hooper as referee, as he has been appointed for the German’s final away game.
Hooper’s assistants will be Adrian Holmes and Tim Wood, the fourth official is Tim Robinson, and VAR will be operated by Chris Kavanagh, assisted by Mark Scholes.
Monday will be his fifth game overseeing the Reds this season, the Reds have only won two of those matches, and that includes the 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Anfield.
In total, this will be Hooper’s 10th time refereeing a Liverpool game and in all of his previous encounters he has never awarded a penalty for Klopp’s side, but he has awarded one against.
Hooper has not had the smoothest of seasons, that is putting it lightly, having been deemed to have made an “officiating mistake” in Man City‘s 3-3 draw with Tottenham earlier in the campaign.
Let’s hope there is no controversy for Klopp’s second-to-last Liverpool game as the manager will need to hold his tongue if he is to avoid a yellow card that will see him banned for his farewell at Anfield!
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