Arne Slot voiced complaint about Sunderland-Liverpool referee - 'Wrong decision'

Chris Kavanagh will be the man in the middle on Wednesday at the Stadium of Light, a referee who has infuriated Arne Slot twice already this season with decisions against Manchester City and Sunderland

Arne Slot will be after three points on Wednesday(Image: Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images)

Arne Slot will hope that there are no refereeing controversies when Liverpool travels to Sunderland on Wednesday, with the Reds' head coach referring to the number of decisions he feels have gone against his side this season, after Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City.

One in particular has irked Slot and been a constant reference point in recent months: Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed header against City in November. The Liverpool skipper rose highest to nod in a corner at the Etihad, but it was disallowed due to Andy Robertson’s position, which was deemed to be impacting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City led 1-0 at the time, and an equalizer may have changed the course of a game Liverpool went on to lose 3-0.

It was referee Chris Kavanagh who chalked off that goal, a man who will once again take charge of Liverpool at the Stadium of Light in midweek

“I think it’s obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made, at least in my opinion, because [Robertson] didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do,” Slot said in November, when asked about Van Dijk’s disallowed goal.

“Immediately after the game, someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed City against Wolves last season,” he added, referencing a Bernardo Silva goal in 2024 that was allowed to stand.

Arne Slot was furious that Chris Kavanagh opted to disallow Virgil van Dijk's goal against Manchester City in November(Image: AFP or licensors)

“It took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it’s offside, so there was clearly communication.

“That could have influenced the game in a positive way for us because in the first half, we were so poor.”

Slot was also infuriated by Kavanagh on another occasion this season, when the referee chose not to award a penalty against Leeds' Jaka Bijol, after the defender grappled with and fouled Hugo Ekitike at Anfield on New Year’s Day.

Van Dijk was disappointed with the decision(Image: Getty Images)

“If he had fallen down, it probably would have been a penalty,” Slot said on that occasion.

“But I understand why he doesn’t go down because this season, so many times when we were fouled inside the 18-yard box, we didn’t get a penalty.”

Kavanagh also took charge of Liverpool’s defeats to Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Community Shield, respectively, earlier this season, plus the Reds’ victory over Arsenal in August.

That Arsenal win was the solitary victory for Liverpool across the last games Kavanagh has overseen.