Liverpool vs Burnley referee had Arne Slot fuming before apology was issued

Arne Slot’s Liverpool side will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games when they take on Burnley at Anfield on Saturday afternoon

Liverpool return to Premier League action this afternoon when they welcome Burnley to Anfield. The Reds will be looking to extend their 11-game unbeaten run against Scott Parker’s side.

Andrew Madley will be the man in charge of the game. The experienced match official famously took charge of Liverpool’s chaotic 3-3 draw with Newcastle United back in December 2024.

And after booking three Liverpool players in the opening 45 minutes at St James’ Park, Reds boss Slot cut a frustrated and, at times, furious figure on the sidelines. So much so that Amazon Prime presenter Dan Walker implied after the game that Slot had spoken to Madley in his dressing room during the interval, when Liverpool were trailing 1-0.

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Speaking at the time, he said, “Before the game, he (Madley) said if you want to come and see me at any point, you can. He didn’t specify, here it is, you can see this (the footage) here, he didn’t specify that that was at half-time or full-time.

“We do know that Arne Slot went to see him at the break – after 45 minutes – and obviously Eddie Howe wasn’t best pleased about that. I’m sure there’s going to be more said and more written and more spoken about that in the future.”

When the matter was subsequently put to Howe at the time, he said: “I don’t think I’ll go there. I think that’s a can of worms. I tend to focus on my team.”

However, as reported by the ECHO at the time, Slot didn’t directly approach Madley – or even enter the referee’s changing room at any time during the half-time interval.

Instead, they are believed to have exchanged words in the tunnel when walking next to each other and nothing untoward was said during their brief conversation.

This prompted Amazon Prime to apologise to Slot and Liverpool, with the broadcaster blaming the mistake on a production misunderstanding.

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Since that game against Newcastle, Madley has taken charge of three Liverpool Premier League matches.

A 2-0 win over Brentford in January last year, a 2-1 win over West Ham United four months later and the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in November.

The Reds are fourth in the Premier League heading into the weekend, eight points behind Aston Villa and only two above Brentford, and Slot admitted that battle was their main concern domestically.

He said: “We haven’t put ourselves in the most ideal position, especially if you compare it to where we were after six games (they won their first seven in all competitions).

“The reality is we are competing against these teams for the fourth position. There is still a lot for us to play for in the league.”