Arne Slot confronting referee Michael Oliver (Photo by Carl Recine, Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has been given a ban of two games for his behaviour at the end of his side’s recent 2-2 draw with Everton.
The Dutch tactician lost his cool at Goodison Park as he confronted Michael Oliver at the end of the game, which saw Liverpool lose a 2-1 lead deep into stoppage time.
“I got gay tendencies and kissed him on the mouth” – who said this about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and what happened next?!
It’s perhaps not surprising that Slot was not happy afterwards, but there’s also no excuse for any kind of abusive behaviour or language towards match officials.
According to BBC Sport‘s report on the ban, Slot will miss tonight’s game against Newcastle and an upcoming clash with Southampton.
Liverpool fans will hope the players don’t suffer too much without Slot there on the touchline, but most would surely still see the Reds as the favourites for both of these games.
Liverpool take on Newcastle looking to build on win at Manchester City
Liverpool’s 2-0 win away to Manchester City at the weekend, which followed Arsenal’s surprise 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham, now makes Slot’s side the clear favourites to win the Premier League title this season.
Still, perhaps things could get interesting again tonight if Liverpool struggle without Slot in his usual seat for the game.
Newcastle will be no pushovers, so it may be that Slot’s absence is the kind of small detail that could be the difference in a close game.
Southampton, however, have been really poor this season and look certain to go down as the bottom team in the division, so that shouldn’t be seen as too big a concern for the Merseyside giants.
Slot has done a terrific job since becoming Liverpool manager last summer, performing beyond all expectations since taking on the difficult challenge of replacing the legendary Jurgen Klopp.
