As the Liverpool vs. Newcastle referee was chosen, Jurgen Klopp reunited with the VAR official he had chastised.

On New Year’s Day, Liverpool plays Newcastle United in an attempt to maintain their strong Premier League performance.

The match between Newcastle United and Liverpool on New Year’s Day will be officiated by Anthony Taylor.

After their thrilling victory against the Magpies at the end of August, the Reds want to make it two in a row at home. Darwin Nunez, a second-half substitution who secured the points for the 10 men, helped Liverpool win.

Thirty minutes in, Anthony Gordon opened the score, and three minutes later, Virgil van Dijk was sent out, leaving Jurgen Klopp’s team down a man. The two Champions League contenders square off on January 7, 2024, with a seven-place and 13-point gap between the teams.

Eddie Howe’s team has been losing a lot lately, which has caused them to fall down the Premier League standings. They are coming into Merseyside having suffered losses to Nottingham Forest and Luton Town. This season, Newcastle had already travelled to the blue side of the city; on that occasion, they had a miserable evening at Goodison Park as Everton defeated them handily, 3-0.

In the middle of the pitch for the match at Anfield will be Taylor. The 45-year-old has managed 56 Liverpool games, eight more than Arsenal and Chelsea combined, making it the most in his professional career.

In that span, the Reds have won 31 games and only lost nine. This season, Taylor has overseen two draws for Klopp’s team: the first-day match against Chelsea and the October trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, where Liverpool was given a penalty.

This will be Taylor’s thirty-third match featuring Newcastle, and his second time officiating a match between the Reds and the North East team. Nick Pope was sent by the referee in February 2023 for handling outside the box during Liverpool’s improbable 2-0 victory over the Magpies at St James’ Park.

Although Adam Nunn and Gary Beswick will support Taylor, attention may be drawn to the Stockley Park VAR officials. Liverpool’s last two matches against Burnley and Arsenal have seen them on the losing end of technological rulings.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick was ruled to have caused a handball, but Gunners captain Martin Odegaard escaped punishment because it was determined that the Norwegian had fallen. Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo were given no credit for their efforts as Burnley was defeated 2-0 on Boxing Day.

After snagging a loose ball in the 18-yard area, Gakpo thundered home, but Paul Tierney adjudged that Darwin Nunez had tripped Charlie Taylor. Although Elliott’s finish in the second half was disallowed by VAR when Mohamed Salah was judged to have interfered with play from an offside position, the contact, if any, appeared to be slight upon replay.

Jordan Beyer of Clarets pushed the 20-year-old Egyptian beyond the defensive line as he converted from the cut-back. Diogo Jota would seal the victory in the last stages of his injury comeback.

Mark Scholes has been nominated to assist Stuart Attwell, who was chastised by Klopp during the 3-1 loss to Brentford in January for not calling a “clear foul” for the third goal. Attwell has been named as the Video Assistant Referee.