Darren England, the referee who was at the center of Luis Diaz’s legitimate goal after being ruled out against Tottenham last year, returned to VAR for the match between West Ham and Liverpool.
England have suspended VAR duties in the Premier League for more than six months after Diaz’s goal against Tottenham was ruled offside due to his “significant human error”.
The farce that unfolded in North London in September 2023 had long-lasting repercussions, with England not attending a Liverpool game for an entire year.
He was blacklisted by England for his involvement and is said to have spent time as a referee in the Championship as well as the Japanese J-League.
After being appointed as a fourth referee for the 2-1 win over Wolves in September this year, the 39-year-old is now back in the VAR booth for Sunday’s trip to West Ham.
It’s the first time he’s been called off by VAR at a Liverpool game in 15 months, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the David Coote controversy has helped turn things around for him.
It is the third time England have played the Reds since they lost 2-1 to Spurs, and their fourth official match since they won 3-2 at Southampton last month.
Anthony Taylor will be the referee for West Ham v Liverpool starting at 5.15pm, with assistants Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn and fourth official Stephen Martin.
Simon Bennett will assist England in VAR, while Dan Cook, another referee in the Tottenham disaster, will instead take on the role of VAR assistant for Everton v Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool have been held to just three goalless draws in 66 league away games against West Ham, the last of which came in November 1995.
The Hammers have scored in 21 of their last 25 home league games against the Reds. That means they have conceded 20 goals in their last eight games.
Liverpool have beaten West Ham 35 times in the Premier League. No team has more wins than Newcastle (also 35).
Of the 159 goals scored in Premier League meetings, the Reds have been responsible for 107 of them.
