Liverpool are seeking further information about the review into Saturday’s offside controversy at Tottenham before deciding on next steps.
The club had a Luis Diaz goal ruled out in north London due to a miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper. The Premier League game was goalless at the time of the incident, with the Reds going on to lose 2-1.
Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
Much of the focus since has been on precisely how the club would like the matter escalated and resolved, but PA understands at this stage the key word in the statement from a Liverpool perspective is “explore”.
They are seeking greater clarity and transparency over precisely what the review of the incident promised by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) will entail.
The Reds acknowledge there is no playbook and no established procedure to deal with this set of circumstances, as there would be in the case of appealing against a red card for instance.
PGMOL issued a statement on Saturday night acknowledging a “significant error” had occurred. Hooper and his assistants had given offside against Diaz on the field, and the PA news agency understands that although England followed the correct procedure in drawing lines, he lost focus and mistakenly thought the initial onfield decision had been onside.
This resulted in him issuing a ‘check complete’ notice to Hooper, rather than advising of an intervention and the goal being awarded.
Once the officials realised an error had been made, play had restarted and VAR protocols state that once that has happened, there is no way back to revisit a decision.
England was replaced as a fourth official for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford match on Sunday while his assistant VAR at Tottenham, Dan Cook, has been replaced for Monday night’s match between Fulham and Chelsea.
Referee and VAR appointments for the coming weekend’s matches are due to be announced at 10am on Tuesday morning.
The controversy over the Diaz goal has led to calls for the conversation between England and Hooper to be broadcast.
PGMOL has not ruled out the possibility of the audio forming part of the next ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ programme, which is due to air next Monday.
England and Cook had been part of a team of officials who oversaw a fixture between Sharjah and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning.
Requests for English officials to take charge of domestic matches overseas are made to the Football Association, with permission for officials to travel granted jointly by the FA and PGMOL.
Just as players involved in Europa League matches on a Thursday do not return to domestic action until Sunday, so officials’ duties are balanced to take account of any overseas assignments in the week.
For instance, Michael Oliver, who refereed the match in the UAE last week, was a fourth official on Saturday but was back to refereeing at Forest on Sunday.
Nor was the UAE trip unusual. It was the fifth time in the last 10 months that officials have overseen domestic matches overseas, with Tom Bramall and Andy Madley leading teams to Japan in January and the early summer respectively, Oliver officiating a Saudi match in April and Craig Pawson going to Greece in May.
That is on top of English officials frequently being called upon for club and national team matches in international competitions.
Liverpool’s statement said the error that occurred had led to sporting integrity being undermined, but Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said on Monday he still had complete “trust” in referees.
“Well, I’m not so often giving comment on refereeing because they do what they have to do,” the Dutchman said.
“Of course, the standard has to be high and it’s a part of the game.
“Of course, you can expect, we can expect, teams can expect, the fans can all expect, that it has to be a high standard – so it should be because it’s Premier League.
“But I think and I’m sure they do what they can. They are very professional, so they will give their best and I trust them.”
'It's a shame' - Alonso confirms Leverkusen's Boniface out with thigh injury
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, was replaced late on in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have managed 17 points from 10 games so far this season, the worst start to a league campaign in 12 years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both 11) have scored more goals in the league than Boniface this term (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga encounter against Heidenheim and their Champions League tie against RB Salzburg next week.
"We will have to see how long he will be out. It is a shame," Alonso told a press conference.
"He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe a bit longer. We will have to wait and see.
"It is too early to say but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see with the recovery and improvement but it is not a matter of six or eight weeks."
Leverkusen have dropped points in six Bundesliga games already this season (D5, L1), as often as they did during the entirety of their 2023-24 title-winning campaign (D6).
They come into this weekend's fixture against Heidenheim on a three-game winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone this long without a victory since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich as the busy festive schedule kickstarts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash with Bayern at the start of December.
"Eight games in four weeks. It is nothing new for us," Alonso said. "An intense phase is coming up for us and it starts tomorrow.
"We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup."
Object thrown at City striker 'Bunny' Shaw in Champions League win over Hammarby sparks UEFA investigation
UEFA has opened an investigation after Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw was hit by an object during their Women’s Champions League win against Swedish side Hammarby on Thursday.
The towering Jamaican striker scored both goals in City’s 2-1 win at the Stockholm Arena to see her side through to the quarterfinal stage.
Her animated celebration in front of the home fans after her first goal saw the 27-year-old being booked, with replays also showing an object seemingly thrown her way from the stands.
“Proceedings have been opened against Hammarby IF for throwing of objects (Article 16(2)(b) of the Disciplinary Regulations),” UEFA said in a statement.
“Manchester City player Khadija Shaw received a yellow card following her goal presentation for unsporting conduct,” the statement added.
Following the game, City captain Alex Greenwood chided match broadcaster DAZN for failing to mention the incident in a social media post.
The post on X, external said Shaw “antagonised” the home fans and received “stick” from them.
Greenwood replied, "Correction. Travel to Stockholm, score a big goal. Celebrates her goal. Gets objects thrown at her.”
Girona handed huge injury boosts ahead of Espanyol clash
Michel says Girona are in better physical shape ahead of their home clash against Espanyol after being handed numerous injury boosts.
Last season's surprise package, Girona, have had a mixed start to the campaign and sit 10th in the table but registered back-to-back league wins before the international break.
They have struggled with injuries to key players this season, but Viktor Tsygankov, Jhon Solis, Arnaut Danjuma, Yaser Asprilla, Ladislav Krejci, Ivan Martin, and Alejandro Frances are all available for the game.
Michel hopes that having a wider group of players available will help them to extend their winning run.
"We are better physically. Only Yangel Herrera, [Gabriel] Misehouy, Portu and Abel Ruiz are out, and the rest are in the squad" Michel told reporters.
"Each case will be different in terms of giving us minutes, but they are ready to help us.
"Now we have replacements in each position, and it gives me peace of mind. We need everyone ready and in the next two to three weeks, we will be ready to play at 100%."
Michel said Herrera, who has scored twice and registered one assist in LaLiga this term, was not expected to return until the new year.
"He is a player who makes the difference in terms of duels, arrivals into the opponent's area and possession. He is vital, but we will not have him until 2025," he added.
Girona have 18 points after 13 games and will face an Espanyol side sitting in the relegation zone. The visitors are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road, but Michel has won just one of his four LaLiga matches against Espanyol (D2 L1).
The Girona head coach said Manolo Gonzalez's team cannot be taken lightly despite their underwhelming performances in away games.
Espanyol are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road.
"We faced each other in pre-season and we drew. It will be difficult since they are a very good team in transition with players like [Javi] Puado or Jofre [Carreras] with speed and depth," Michel said.
"It's always a different game. It's a derby, and it's good to play them. There is a rivalry that must be sporting and, for our people and the players, it is a different game."
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