For the second time this season, Arne Slot will serve a touchline ban when Liverpool welcome Wolves to Anfield on Sunday.
The 46-year-old was forced to watch from comparatively afar when we took on Southampton in the Carabao Cup before Christmas, having been suspended for accumulating three yellow cards in the Premier League.
He was shown a red card by Michael Oliver after the final whistle of a tempestuous Merseyside derby on Wednesday night, with the Dutchman punished for what seemed to be nothing more than a strong handshake.
Heitinga set to take team duties on Sunday with Slot banned
Slot’s assistant Sipke Hulshoff was similarly censored by the official after the game, with both men now barred from the technical area at the weekend. As pointed out by Daily Mail journalist Lewis Steele on X, Johnny Heitinga is now likely to take the team for Liverpool’s match against Wolves.
The Liverpool Echo detailed the particulars of the touchline ban that the Reds’ head coach has incurred, and what he can and can’t do on Sunday.
The 46-year-old can’t watch from the touchline, go to the bench to communicate with staff and players before, during or after the game, or communicate with the referee or match officials at any point.
However, Slot will be permitted to view proceedings from the directors’ box and use remote communication or a ‘runner’ to issue messages to those in the dugout, along with speaking to his team in the dressing room before, during and after the fixture.
Even the mild-mannered Slot has his patience tested by English refs
When he was last banned from the touchline, the Liverpool head coach reflected philosophically on how restrictions in the Eredivisie are stricter than in the Premier League in terms of what he’s allowed and not allowed to do during a suspension.
It still seems out of character for the Dutchman to incur two bans in as many months as he’s generally not the most hyperactive of coaches in the technical area during games.
However, as we witnessed in a couple of instances last night, even his temper can be triggered by some of the more inexplicable refereeing decisions in this league, and the red card that he was shown after full-time appeared incredibly harsh from the information to hand so far.
It’s not ideal to have Slot banned from the touchline on Sunday, but Heitinga will be more than able for the responsibility of taking the team for the Wolves game. After all, the ex-Everton defender was linked with the West Brom manager’s job at the end of December before they hired Tony Mowbray.
Hopefully when the Reds’ next match has finished, the dominant topic of discussion is a convincing home victory and not contentious refereeing decisions.
