The referee for Liverpool vs. Aston Villa has been announced, with a familiar pair taking charge on the pitch and in the VAR booth.
Liverpool host Aston Villa on Saturday as they hope to arrest a rut of four Premier League defeats in a row.
Last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Brentford was officiated by Simon Hooper until he had to be replaced at half time by fourth official Tom Robinson, due to injury.
The referee against Aston Villa, Stuart Attwell, will be hoping to avoid the same fate as the 43-year-old takes charge of his 28th Liverpool match.
His first time refereeing the Reds came back in 2010 and he has been appointed referee at Anfield 15 times since, Liverpool winning on 13 of those occasions.
Last season he was involved in controversy, though, when he failed to give Lucas Bergvall a second yellow card for a late challenge on Kostas Tsimikas in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Tottenham.
Bergvall almost immediately went on to score the winner, but it mattered not in the end as the Reds comfortably won the return leg 4-0.
Against Villa, Attwell will be assisted by Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor on the touchlines, while fourth official duties have been handed to Tom Bramall.
Meanwhile in Stockley Park, the aforementioned Hooper is to take on the role of video assistant referee. He will be assisted by Matthew Wilkes.
Liverpool vs. Aston Villa officials
- Referee: Stuart Attwell
- Assistants: Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor
- Fourth official: Tom Bramall
- VAR: Paul Tierney
- Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes
Hooper has history with Liverpool – he and Jurgen Klopp famously did not get along – however, Arne Slot‘s relationship with the official has remained relatively calm.
While Liverpool’s dip in form can’t be attributed to refereeing decisions, there is no doubt they haven’t had the rub of the green in recent weeks.
This was apparent on Saturday as Brentford were awarded a penalty for a debatable Virgil van Dijk foul. Despite it initially being given as a free-kick, the VAR changed the decision to a spot-kick despite the contact appearing to occur just outside the box.
Referees won’t be the focus ahead of Liverpool’s clash against Aston Villa, though. The players’ concentration should be firmly on improving their own performances.
With Arsenal playing earlier in the day, Slot’s side could find themselves 10 points behind the league leaders before they kick off.
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