Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday in the first match since Enzo Maresca's side was found guilty of over 100 financial breaches
Chris Kavanagh will officiate Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
Chris Kavanagh will officiate Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on Sunday.(Image: Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
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Chris Kavanagh has been confirmed as the referee for Liverpool's showdown with Manchester City on Sunday. The 41-year-old from Manchester will be in the middle for the first match since City were found guilty of over 100 Premier League financial breaches.
It will be his fourth top-flight match of the season and first involving both new managers, Andoni Iraola and Enzo Maresca. City sit top of the Premier League after an impressive start to the campaign under the former Chelsea boss, boasting a three-point gap over Arsenal at the summit.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have made a steady start to Andoni Iraola's first season in charge after replacing Arne Slot. However, they face the biggest test of the season on Sunday with the table-toppers making the short trip to Merseyside.
The backdrop of the contest is being dominated by the recent revelation of City being found guilty of over 100 Premier League financial breaches over nine years.
The Greater Manchester club are facing intense scrutiny over their rule-breaking, with calls for significant punishment being handed to City, after the Premier League accused them of "sham contracts" inflating commercial deals, among other accusations, which City strongly refute, since appealing the independent commission's verdict.
Liverpool's showdowns with Man City are often not without controversy. The Reds have found themselves denied penalties at the death and they lodged a complaint in the meeting at the Etihad Stadium last season, a game with Kavanagh officiated.
The 20-time English champions sought clarity from refereeing body Pro Ref, previously PGMOL, raising significant concerns about the decision to chalk off Virgil van Dijk's would-be equaliser.
City won the encounter 1-0, through Erling Haaland, but Van Dijk's header was ruled out for offside after Andy Robertson was adjudged to have been in an offside position and interfered with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, prompting a push for an explanation from the Reds.
Kavanagh has yet to officiate any Liverpool or City games this season, taking charge of Bournemouth vs Everton, Arsenal vs Chelsea and Crystal Palace vs Ipswich in the opening weeks of the season.
The Ashton-under-Lyne official got on the wrong side of the Basque tactician earlier this year when the official blew for full-time during an attack as they chased an equaliser against Arsenal, a game they lost 3-2. He said: "It is common sense you cannot end the game there.
“In the first half we had something similar. It is disappointing.”
Liverpool
Liverpool were left furious by the decision(Image: Getty Images)
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Iraola was left particularly vexed with Kavanagh in 2024 when West Ham were awarded a controversial penalty late on that salvaged a point against Bournemouth. At the time, he said: “I’m very, very disappointed with the penalty because it’s an action that we spoke before the season started with the referees.
"They expressly gave the instruction not to tell our players to defend with their hands behind their back because it was not natural.
“I said ‘OK, we give these instructions (to put hands behind backs) because it’s costing us penalties’ and he’s gone, ‘no, don’t worry, it’s natural, it’s not going to cost you’. Bam, the first one: penalty.
“It’s obviously natural because everyone that has played football (knows) you go running to block a shot, a cross, you finish with one hand down, one up, it’s like this always. It doesn’t change a lot the trajectory, they almost scored a goal with the header from Fullkrug and I’m very disappointed.
“Nobody noticed live, I think. But it’s not that nobody noticed, it’s that you have expressly told us that the defenders cannot defend with their hands behind their back because we don’t want the game like this. What do I do next week? What do I tell the defenders?”
Meanwhile, Maresca has also previously been left disappointed by the 41-year-old's officiating after raising a complaint during his time at Chelsea.
The Italian was left aghast after their Carabao Cup exit to Newcastle United with Anthony Gordon avoiding a red card for a crunching tackle on Marc Cucurella.