Liverpool get nightmare referee – VAR official combination for the trip to Burnley

The Reds now know who will officiate the Boxing Day match between Burnley and Liverpool at Turf Moor. Paul Tierney is the referee, with Simon Hooper managing VAR behind the scenes. The past two times Liverpool had this combination officiate a game, both fans and players were dissatisfied.

Nightmare referee and VAR duo confirmed for Burnley vs. Liverpool - Liverpool FC - This Is Anfield

VAR ruled out a Luis Diaz goal for offside earlier this season in our “loss” to Tottenham away from home. Following the judgment, video analysis revealed unequivocally that the officials made the wrong decision and allowed play continue, claiming they couldn’t track back on the incident.

However, our recent visit to Selhurst Park shown that referees may trackback play, as they took little time in giving Crystal Palace a penalty for an incident that occurred more than two minutes before the referee approached the VAR screen.

Recent stories involving Hooper include a failure to take use of a man advantage during Manchester City’s 3-3 draw with Tottenham, denying Jack Grealish a chance to run through on goal. PGMOL chief Howard Webb later stated it was an error on the part of the officials.

The VAR Review: What went wrong for Luis Diaz's offside goal - ESPN

Refer to Nightmare

Liverpool’s Boxing Day encounter against Burnley provides a potential to move to the top of the Premier League with a win, at least until Arsenal can recover the lead against West Ham.

Officiating decisions have been a source of contention for Liverpool this season. In their most recent game against Arsenal, a disallowed penalty for a handball by Martin Odegaard left Jurgen Klopp perplexed, demanding an explanation for why it wasn’t granted and why it wasn’t reviewed. This season, we have lost nine points due to officiating errors. Hopefully, it will stay at nine till the campaign is over.

Paul Tierney on the sidelines with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

In recent games, the narrative has switched from football to factors beyond the Reds’ control, and the only way Liverpool can address this is to play by the book, get the desired result, and move on to the next. The officials will do their usual thing. It is best to think that it will always be against us and to secure a positive outcome in such instances.