Chris Sutton: Arne Slot ‘will be furious’ over what happened in first 10 minutes at St James’ Park | OneFootball

Arne Slot won’t have been happy with a few decisions from Simon Hooper in the opening exchanges of Liverpool’s clash against Newcastle tonight.

As if the fixture at St James’ Park needed any extra spice, the ongoing transfer saga involving Alexander Isak ensured that the Tyneside faithful gave their visitors an especially heated welcome, and the febrile atmosphere appeared to seep through to a few of the players on the pitch.

Inside the first five minutes, Joelinton avoided a yellow card for a high boot on Cody Gakpo, as did Kieran Trippier for an overly robust challenge on Florian Wirtz. Shortly afterwards, though, Ryan Gravenberch was booked for taking down Bruno Guimaraes.

Sutton: Slot ‘will be furious’ over yellow card decisions

Speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports, Chris Sutton claimed that Slot will have been far from happy with Hooper over the decision to book the Dutch midfielder but neither of the Newcastle duo who could justifiably have entered the referee’s notebook.

The former Chelsea striker said (20:09): “I can imagine Slot will be furious that Gravenberch has been carded and Trippier and Joelinton haven’t been.”

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Slot would have every right to be infuriated

One of the most infuriating things for Premier League followers is the seemingly incessant inconsistency with refereeing decisions, and that’s something the Liverpool head coach will have felt inside the first few minutes at St James’ Park.

In isolation, Gravenberch could have few complaints over his yellow card for fouling Guimaraes, having needlessly lost the ball just beforehand. However, in the context of Joelinton and Tripper being fortunate to avoid a caution from Hooper, the Reds’ ire would have been wholly justified.

It’s understandable that referees try not to hand out cards in the early exchanges, for fear of setting a dangerous precedent, but they’re also obliged to take each incident on its own merits, and that’s what’ll have infuriated Slot.

If the official had no qualms about showing a yellow card to Liverpool’s number 38 after just eight minutes, why then did he shirk away from booking the Newcastle culprits?

The decision left Gravenberch walking a tightrope from a very early stage in the match, having just returned from suspension, and hopefully it won’t have any unwanted consequences for the Dutchman and his team.