Liverpool continue their search for a first victory of the season. So far, Andoni Iraola has overseen a pair of 2-2 draws, coming from behind both times against Newcastle at St James' and Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Next up, the Reds travel to Suffolk to take on Ipswich Town on Friday night. Ahead of the game, find out all there is to know about the refereeing team.
Ipsiwhc Town vs Liverpool: Refereeing team
- Referee: Darren England.
- Assistant referees: Richard West & Adrian Holmes.
- Fourth official: Lewis Smith.
- Video assistant referee: Nick Hopton.
- Assistant video assistant referee: Gary Beswick.
40 year old Darren England has been a Premier League referee since 2020, FIFA listed two years alter. He might be most well known to Liverpool fans for being the VAR during the infamous "check complete" debacle that saw Luis Díaz wrongly have a goal chalked off at Tottenham for offside, due to "significant human error".
England's only match of this season so far was Hull City's 2-0 win over Manchester United on the opening weekend. Since the start of the last campaign, across 30 matches, he has brandished 128 yellow cards and three reds, an average of 4.4 cards per 90. One of the players he sent off was West Ham's Lucas Paquetá, as Arne Slot's side won 2-0 at the London Stadium in November.
So, how do Liverpool tend to fare when England is the man in the middle?
Darren England's previous Liverpool matches as referee
- 25 May 2026: Liverpool 1-1 Brentford: 5 yellow cards - Ibrahima Konaté & Alexis Mac Allister booked.
- 3 May 2026: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool: 4 yellow cards - Curtis Jones & Cody Gakpo booked.
- 21 March 2026: Brighton 2-1 Liverpool: 10 yellow cards - Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Jeremie Frimpong & Federico Chiesa.
- 30 November 2025: West Ham United 0-2 Liverpool: 2 yellows & 1 red - No Liverpool players carded.
- 20 September 2025: Liverpool 2-1 Everton: 5 yellow cards - Dominik Szoboszlai & Florian Wirtz booked.
- 25 May 2025: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace: 2 yellows & 1 red - Virgil van Dijk booked and Ryan Gravenberch sent off.
- 1 February 2025: Bournemouth 0-2 Liverpool: 5 yellow cards - Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister & Virgil van Dijk booked.
- 28 May 2023: Southampton 4-4 Liverpool: 2 yellow cards - Harvey Elliott & Kostas Tsimikas booked.
- 25 February 2023: Crystal Palace 0-0 Liverpool: 7 yellow cards - Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keïta, Fabinho & Joël Matip booked.
- 14 January 2023: Brighton 2-0 Liverpool: 4 yellow cards - Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson & Joël Matip booked.
- 21 September 2021: Norwich City 0-3 Liverpool: 2 yellows cards - No Liverpool players carded.
Perhaps concerningly, Liverpool have a horrific record with England as referee. Across ten previous Premier League matches, the Reds have won only three and lost three; the 2021 victory over Norwich City came in the Carabao Cup.
He sent off Ryan Gravenberch on the final day of the 2024/25 season, while Dominik Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister have all also been carded multiple times by England. Of course, Iraola's team should be too strong for newly-promoted Ipswich at Portman Road regardless.
The Tractor Boys beat Sunderland to make their Premier League return, thanks to Jack Clarke's stoppage time winner against his former club. Then, last Sunday, Gary O'Neil's team were ultimately smashed 5-2 at Old Trafford, but went ahead through Leif Davis' astonishing volley, and were deserving of their lead, until falling apart in the second half.
Thus, Liverpool will be hoping to take the referee out of the equation, albeit this trip to Suffolk might just be tougher than fans expect.
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