A four-game losing streak, closer to relegation spots than to the top four, and the next game away at league leaders and fierce rivals, Liverpool – life is not easy for Ruben Amorim right now.
At a time when he would have held onto any positive he could get his hands on, his job has arguably just been made even more tricky.
Not many are giving Manchester United much of a chance against Liverpool, especially at Anfield, considering the opposite trajectories the two teams are on.
However, the referee confirmation for the marquee fixture will leave Amorim sweating even more as he’s famously trigger-happy with bookings, and his recent history with United is one Amorim will be eager to wipe away.
Referee for Liverpool vs Man Utd
Before delving into details, it is worth clarifying that what can be explained by incompetence and inconsistency should never be attributed to malice.
However, that could still mean that some referees are more inconsistent than others and the United game has just been assigned to someone who’s made a notorious reputation out of it.
The Premier League has confirmed that Michael Oliver will be the on-field referee for the big game with Stuart Burt and Lee Betts as his assistants. Craig Pawson will be the fourth official and Chris Kavanagh the VAR. He’ll be assisted by Dan Robathan.
Oliver has long been branded as one of English football’s finest referees but United only has bad memories of games overseen by him.
In the most notable recent incident, he was the VAR who forced the on-pitch referee to reverse a penalty decision in the game against West Ham, the one which ended up being Erik ten Hag’s last game in charge.
Oliver also reffed this game last season and stole the headlines for all the wrong reasons, booking Diogo Dalot twice in a few seconds for dissent in a decision that was emblematic of the inconsistency in dealing with dissent.
People at United have even expressed concern about Oliver’s history with Bruno Fernandes, who has been at the receiving end of unfortunate talking-to and bookings from the referee many times. Neither Fernandes or Dalot will be happy to see him again.
Man Utd have surprised at Anfield before
The appointment of Michael Oliver as the referee seems like a case of “When it rains, it pours” but looking at it from the other side, United really don’t have much to lose here.
They went to Anfield in a pretty similar situation last season and came back with a battling point in a game that they could have even won if not for some wasteful finishing.
United have made it a habit of turning up when nobody expects them to and this game has all the ingredients of coming up with a surprise.
Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd has been better in bigger games where they don’t have to break down a deep block with patient ball possession so the challenge at Anfield should suit them.
Oliver’s appointment as a referee doesn’t help but there’s no point regretting something not in their hands. What they can do is put on a performance that restores some pride in the fans.
That’s all that is needed right now.
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