Referee and officials with controversial Liverpool history given League Cup final vs Newcastle

Referee and officials with controversial Liverpool history given League Cup final vs Newcastle

John Brooks will be the man in the middle for Liverpool's League Cup final against Newcastle United later this month

Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk after being sent off vs Newcastle United in August 2023. (Image: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images )

John Brooks has been named as the referee for Liverpool's League Cup final showdown against Newcastle United - having previously sent off Virgil van Dijk in the fixture. Brooks will be the man in the middle for the Wembley clash on Sunday, March 16 with the Reds aiming to win the competition for a record-extending 11th occasion.

It will be the second time Brooks has officiated a game between Liverpool and Newcastle having taken charge of the Premier League clash between the duo at St James' Park in August 2023.

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A late brace from substitute Darwin Nunez earned the Reds an unlikely 2-1 triumph having played more than an hour with 10 men after Van Dijk was dismissed for denying Alexander Isak a goalscoring opportunity.

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The Liverpool skipper was automatically banned for one match and then subsequently suspended for a further game and fined £100,000 after being charged by the Football Association having initially refused to leave the pitch and then remonstrated with referee Brooks and fourth official Craig Pawson.

Brooks has since refereed four Reds matches, the most recent of which was the 2-1 home Premier League win over Chelsea in October.

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The fourth official at Wembley will be Darren England, who was the VAR for Liverpool's controversial clash at Tottenham Hotspur in September 2023 when a Luis Diaz goal was awarded but failed to appear on the scoresheet. England was not involved in another Reds game that season but was most recently the referee for the 2-0 win at Bournemouth in February.

Stuart Attwell, who was referee when Liverpool won the League Cup final in 2022, is the VAR. He officiated the semi-final first leg at Tottenham in January when he upset Reds boss Arne Slot with his failure to send off home midfielder Lucas Bergvall moments before scoring the winner.

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