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The Premier League has announced the referee for Liverpool's upcoming match against Aston Villa this weekend.
The Reds, who are currently on a four-match losing streak in the league, are eager to get back on the winning track. Last weekend, Arne Slot's players suffered a 3-2 loss to Brentford, which resulted in them slipping to seventh place in the Premier League standings.
This defeat, along with losses to Manchester United, Chelsea, and Crystal Palace, means that Liverpool hasn't tasted victory in the league since September 20. Liverpool will be back at Anfield to face Villa in the Saturday fixture, and it has been confirmed that Stuart Attwell will officiate the match.
Attwell will be assisted by Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor, while Paul Tierney will oversee VAR.
Slot has previously expressed his frustration over a decision made by Attwell in a high-profile Liverpool match, which took place against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semifinal last season.
The Liverpool manager believed that Lucas Bergvall should have been shown a second yellow card just before he scored the decisive goal for Spurs in the first leg of the semifinal in January.
Bergvall was not penalized for a tackle on Kostas Tsimikas that required the left-back to receive treatment off the pitch. It was during Tsimikas' absence from the field that Bergvall netted the winning goal against Liverpool, sparking Slot's frustration.
"Yes, I don't think there's any debate about that," Slot told reporters on January 8 when asked if he thinks Attwell should have issued a second yellow card to Bergvall.
"They say he (the referee) didn't (want to) stop the counter-attack, and I say every manager would prefer when a tackle being made 40 yards from our goalkeeper, that the player is given a second yellow card rather than to continue the counter-attack with a player less to play that counter-attack with.
"The next discussion is, was it reckless enough to give advantage and come back and say the tackle was still too reckless and then give a yellow.
"When he (the referee) didn't give the second yellow, nobody thought it would have such a big impact 30 seconds later.
"I haven't asked him, but I'm 99.9 percent sure I wasn't the only one who felt 'Wow, not the best.'
"I'm 99.9 percent sure when Bergvall scored, the referee thought, 'Oh, is this really happening?' because he couldn't change it anymore. I think for him it was also far from ideal.
"In the offside decision, he had to tell everyone what the decision was, and, unfortunately, he didn't have to do that with this decision."
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