James Maddison gets it wrong on both Liverpool red cards as $67m ‘deal in principle agreed’

James Maddison gets it wrong on both Liverpool red cards as $67m ‘deal in principle agreed’

In a match where Liverpool was reduced to nine men, picking up its third and fourth dismissals of the season, the red cards were somehow not the biggest refereeing talking point — yet amid all the VAR fallout, these decisions warrant attention too.

Maddison gives red card verdict

In the eyes of James Maddison, both red card calls against Liverpool were correct. Speaking to Sky Sports (via The Boot Room), he made his assessment:

“Jota’s definitely was [a red card]. The Curtis Jones one early on got shown on the big screen I think was a red card as well. I’m not sure Jürgen will complain too much about those two.”

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If nothing else, Maddison was correct about Klopp having limited complaints — but only because the Liverpool boss feared a hefty fine. In reality, both decisions were deeply questionable.
Of course, Diogo Jota only had himself to blame for flying into a challenge on a yellow card, but that first booking looked soft at best. Destiny Udogie may have just brushed the knee of the Liverpool man as he ran, but he looked to have more or less tripped himself up.

As for the early game-altering decision to dismiss Jones, the footage shown to Maddison, the rest of the stadium and indeed referee Simon Hooper was grossly flawed. Starting at the bad-looking still image, the clip then rolled back only a short way, and was shown in reality-distorting slow motion.

So Maddison is ultimately wrong on two counts. The VAR shambles was the biggest error of the day, but Liverpool should have ended the match with 11 players too.

Alexander-Arnold ‘agrees deal in principle’

Liverpool needs some good news after such a rage-inducing evening yesterday. So we’ll all hope Football Insider is correct in reporting that Trent Alexander-Arnold has agreed a ‘deal in principle’ over a new contract at Anfield.

The new deal will apparently see Alexander-Arnold earn more than $244k (£200k/€230k) per week, placing him among the pack of high-earners in the bracket below Mohamed Salah. ‘Significant progress’ has been made on the deal, which will be worth more than $67m (£55m/€63m) over its duration.

Alexander-Arnold’s current deal runs until 2025. Klopp and the supporters alike will be keen to see him commit his long-term future to Liverpool.