Craig Pawson will serve as the referee for this weekend’s match between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield. The first Merseyside derby of the 2023–24 season will kick off Premier League action early on Saturday. Following the break, top-tier domestic competition will resume.
Pawson has been assigned as the official in charge of the game at Anfield following the Premier League’s announcement of the officials for gameweek nine. Additionally, Stuart Burt will assist David Coote as VAR. Marc Perry and Wade Smith will serve as the line-running assistants, and Thomas Bramall will be the fourth official. Pawson will be in charge of the Merseyside derby for the second time on Saturday after presiding over the 1-1 tie in 2017 at Anfield. 44-year-old Pawson has officiated 36 Liverpool games, with the Reds winning 25, losing 6, and drawing 5. He hasn’t shown a red card in a Liverpool game yet. Fourth official Bramall dismissed Alexis Mac Allister during a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in August, but the punishment was later overturned on appeal. A season-ending injury to Virgil van Dijk caused by an unpunished Jordan Pickford challenge occurred during Coote’s officiating of Liverpool’s contentious 2-2 draw with Everton in 2020.
As a result of offside, the Reds’ late winner was also overturned. After that game, rumors surfaced that Coote felt he was unable to recommend that Pickford be benched because Van Dijk was offside. Claims that Coote “forgot” the rules were rejected by the PGMOL, the body in charge of overseeing referees. Following the incident, Coote was relieved of his VAR and refereeing duties the following gameweek. Fourth official for the Brentford vs. Burnley match at the Gtech Community Stadium, who was at the center of the VAR controversy following Liverpool’s loss to Tottenham, will resume his duties this weekend.
