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John Brooks has been appointed as the referee for Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham this Saturday.
The Reds have a less-than-favorable history with Brooks, who sent off Virgil van Dijk during their match against Newcastle United at St James' Park in August 2023. Van Dijk was shown the red card for denying his now teammate, Alexander Isak, a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
The Liverpool skipper received an automatic one-match suspension, which was followed by an additional ban and a hefty £100,000 ($133K) fine from the Football Association after he refused to leave the pitch and engaged in a dispute with Brooks and fourth official Craig Pawson.
Despite being reduced to 10 men for more than an hour, the Reds secured a 2-1 victory, courtesy of Darwin Nunez who came on as a substitute to score two goals. In February, Brooks was relieved of VAR duties for Liverpool's derby against Everton and Arsenal's match with Manchester City, following his controversial decision to disallow Brighton's goal in their 1‐1 draw with Crystal Palace.
Since then, Brooks has officiated four Liverpool matches, the most recent being the 2-1 Premier League win over Chelsea in October 2024, a game in which Slot questioned several of Brooks' decisions. For the forthcoming fixture against Tottenham, Anthony Taylor will act as the fourth official, while Stuart Attwell will be in charge of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duties.
Just last month, Attwell came under fire for a crucial decision during Liverpool's 2-0 triumph over Aston Villa. Amadou Onana avoided a red card despite appearing to grab Alexis Mac Allister by the throat whilst Villa were preparing for a corner kick, reports the Mirror.
"The fact they were pushing and shoving each other and all right, he's raised his arm, probably a bit higher than he wanted, but he's pushing," said former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Sky Sports' Ref Watch programme afterwards.
"Stuart's [Attwell] got to decide, is it violent? Is it an act of brutality? He said: 'No,' he's obviously relayed to the VAR what he's seen, VAR has checked it back. The referee said, yellow card only."
Earlier, during the League Cup semifinal first leg at Tottenham in January 2022, Attwell angered the Liverpool contingent after refusing to dismiss Lucas Bergvall, mere moments before the player struck the decisive goal. The 18-year-old was cautioned midway through the second half following a reckless challenge on Luis Diaz.
He subsequently escaped a second booking shortly before finding the net after lunging into Kostas Tsimikas. Saturday presents another pivotal fixture for Liverpool in north London, with Slot's side seeking back-to-back victories following recent draws against Sunderland and Leeds United.
Spurs, meanwhile, endured a 3-0 hammering at Nottingham Forest last Sunday and have now managed six wins and six defeats apiece in the Premier League.
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