The post-match scuffle that followed Wednesday’s pulsating Merseyside derby could have lasting consequences on the Premier League title race.
Not only have the Reds squandered their chance for maximum points from their game in hand on the rest of the table, pegged back late in a 2-2 draw with Everton, but they also may have to make adjustments to both the squad and touchline staff for games in the near future.
Multiple players and coaches from both sides were shown disciplinary action after Michael Oliver’s full-time whistle at Goodison Park, as a fight broke out on the pitch.
Liverpool saw Curtis Jones shown a second yellow for chasing down and engaging Abdoulaye Doucoure in a physical altercation, while manager Arne Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff were also both shown straight red cards for dissent.
With the Reds set to face Wolves on Sunday in Premier League action, it leaves the club needing to deal with potential absences in a number of places, including the technical area.
The Sporting News breaks down who could take charge with Slot and Hulshoff at risk of suspension.
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Who will take charge of Liverpool vs. Wolves?
With both first-team boss Arne Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff thought sure to be suspended for the weekend’s league game against Wolves, it was expected that Liverpool would be forced to dip deep into the coaching staff to find an individual available and qualified to take over.
In the immediate aftermath of the Everton match, the individual thought most likely to manage Liverpool this coming weekend was none other than former Everton defender Jonathan Heitinga.
However, that’s now been thrown into question, and there’s a chance the Premier League could walk back their punishment of Slot and Hulshoff.
The morning after the Merseyside derby, the Premier League posted an official statement to social media confirming a two-match touchline ban for Slot for using “offensive, insulting, or abusive language” towards referee Michael Oliver.
However, that post was deleted shortly after, and Liverpool reporter James Pearce confirmed that it was a “mistake” by the Premier League to release that post. He reported that the FA has yet to review the referee’s report from the match, and thus have not yet decided on a course of action.
Yeah it was a mistake by the Premier League.
The FA have yet to review the referee’s report and decide what action to take. They have three working days to decide whether to charge Slot. As thing stands, he’s not banned from touchline for Sunday.— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) February 13, 2025
As it currently stands, Pearce reports, Slot is eligible to coach this weekend against Wolves. The Premier League has three days to review the referee’s report and charge Slot with any potential disciplinary measures.
Unlike players, who trigger automatic suspensions when picking up red cards, Premier League rules state that coaches cannot be suspended for dismissals without an FA charge being brought against them. Thus, we now wait the FA’s decision and Liverpool’s subsequent response.
Who is Liverpool coach Jonathan Heitinga?
Heitinga, who made 87 international appearances for the Netherlands international team, joined Slot’s coaching staff when the former Feyenoord boss took over this past summer.
It’s a fascinating twist of fate that the aftermath of the Everton result could now see Heitinga take charge. Aside from a seven-year spell at his boyhood club Ajax to begin his career, Heitinga’s longest time spent with any club was the five seasons he played at Goodison Park from 2009-2014, making 115 appearances for the English side and voted the club’s Player of the Season in the 2011/12 campaign.
After retiring as a player in 2016, he began a coaching career in the Ajax youth ranks, eventually rising to a place where he took over as the club’s interim first-team manager through the second half of the 2022/23 season.
In September 2023, Heitinga was hired by David Moyes as a member of his West Ham coaching staff, and left the club after one season when Moyes was dismissed the following May. He then joined Slot, a fellow Dutchman, at Liverpool a few months later, with the club’s official website admitting in tongue-in-cheek fashion that Heitinga “knows Merseyside well!”
