Simon Hooper’s Liverpool record including two red cards in game manager wanted replayed

Simon Hooper will take charge of a third Liverpool match this season when Arne Slot’s side host Wolves on Sunday, over a year after the Reds’ infamous defeat to Spurs

Simon Hooper is set to oversee Liverpool’s match against Wolves – more than a year after Jurgen Klopp called for a replay of their notorious game against Tottenham Hotspur.

The 42-year-old has refereed 12 matches featuring the Premier League leaders throughout his career. Of these games, Liverpool have emerged victorious seven times, drawn three and lost two. His most recent stint in charge was during their 2-1 victory over Southampton in the EFL Cup quarter-finals last December.

The latest league match he officiated involving Liverpool was their 1-0 triumph away at Crystal Palace last October. Sunday’s home fixture against struggling Wolves will mark the third time this season that Hooper has refereed a match with Liverpool participating.

He has issued 17 yellow cards and two reds in the 12 matches he’s overseen involving the Merseyside club, with both red cards being handed out in the 2-1 defeat to Spurs last season. Hooper certainly didn’t win any favours from the Liverpool fans after his part in disallowing Luis Diaz’s goal, before the Anfield team were reduced to nine men following Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota’s dismissals.

Despite replays showing he was onside, the Colombian international was flagged offside after scoring. However, VAR Darren England believed the on-field decision was to award Liverpool the goal as he informed Hooper that the check was complete, reports the Liverpool Echo.

In the aftermath, it became apparent that England and assistant VAR Dan Cook recognised their mistake after viewing the replay: the goal wasn’t awarded. Despite acknowledging the blunder, they were said they were powerless to step in as play had already resumed.

Klopp, reeling after his team suffered a last-gasp defeat through Joel Matip’s 96th-minute own goal, argued for a replay after the final whistle. “It’s really important that as big as football is and important as football is we deal with it in a proper way,” the ex-Liverpool boss insisted.

“All the people involved, the on-field referee, linesman, fourth official and especially in this case VAR, didn’t do that on purpose. It was an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for it afterwards.

“Some people probably don’t want me to say, but not as the manager of Liverpool so much, more as a football person, the only outcome should be a replay. That’s how it is. It probably will not happen.”

The Reds, who are set to have Slot commanding from the sidelines despite his red card in the recent Merseyside derby, are eager to return to form in Sunday’s match following their midweek 2-2 stalemate with Everton, in which James Tarkowski snatched a point for the Toffees with a 98th-minute leveller.

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