Who Is The Referee For Everton Vs Liverpool Who Admitted Error Over Red Card In 2020 Merseyside Derby?

Everton host Liverpool in the final Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday and Michael Oliver is the referee who will be in charge of the game.

There’s expected to be an electric atmosphere for the contest which is easily one of the most important Merseyside derbies of the Premier League era.

If Liverpool win their game-in-hand then they will go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. This would set them on course for a likely 20th league title – which would put them level with Manchester United.

Everton dented Liverpool’s title hopes last season with a 2-0 victory at Goodison Park. They will be eager to do the same on Wednesday night and give their fans happy memories from their last Merseyside Derby before they leave their iconic home.

Oliver has been picked to referee the huge game just weeks after he was criticised for sending off Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly against Wolves.

England’s most famous referee was also involved in a controversial red card decision – this time a player not receiving one – when Liverpool travelled to Goodison Park in 2020.

Referee Admitted Merseyside Derby Red Card Error

Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Everton in October 2020 was one of the most ferocious in Merseyside Derby history and referee Michael Oliver admitted to a huge error during that game.

The Reds were defending Premier League champions going into that game. However, events in this particular clash made it look apparent that the Reds would not successfully defend their title.

Richarlison was sent off for a challenge on Thiago Alcantara – one that kept the midfielder out for the next two months.

However, it was the challenge from Jordan Pickford on Virgil van Dijk which is the one that people remember.

Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for the season after a high challenge from Pickford.

Referee Oliver later admitted that this was a mistake not to send the Everton goalkeeper off against Liverpool. He said that the officials on the day were instead distracted by the Dutchman being slightly offside before the challenge was made.

Oliver told the Daily Mail: “The thought initially was, “it can’t be a penalty because it’s offside so we need to check the offside first”.

“We have all myself included not thought about the challenge as much as we should have done – we could still have given an offside and sent Pickford off.

“We got sucked too much into thinking step-by-step as opposed to the bigger process. Which was, considering the challenge as well and not just the fact it can’t be a penalty. We should have restarted with the offside, as we did but with a different punishment for Pickford.”

"It was just a human error. We can only apologise for it"

Dermot Gallagher admits Jordan Pickford *should* have been sent off for his challenge on Virgil van Dijk regardless of the offside.

📺 Watch Ref Watch on Sky Sports News pic.twitter.com/lwt8CIHz1I

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 19, 2020

Everton Vs Liverpool Red Cards

History shows that the referee for an Everton vs Liverpool clash is more likely to show a red card in that fixture than for any other game.

Richarlison’s red card in that famous clash in 2020 is just one of 23 during the Premier League era – more than any fixture.

Steven Gerrard saw two red cards in this fixture – as did Phil Neville for Everton.

Here, is a list of every red card in the Merseyside Derby.

Every Premier League Merseyside Derby Red Card

• David Unsworth (Everton) and Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) in a 1-1 draw on April 16, 1997
• Francis Jeffers (Everton), Sander Westerveld and Steven Gerrard (both Liverpool) in a 1-0 win for Everton on September 27, 1999
• Thomas Graveson (Everton) in a 3-1 win for Liverpool on October 29, 2000
• Igor Biscan (Liverpool) in a 3-2 win for Liverpool on April 16, 2001
• David Weir and Gary Naysmith (both Everton) in a 2-1 win for Liverpool on April 19, 2003
• Milan Baros (Liverpool) in a 2-1 win for Liverpool on March 20, 2005
• Phil Neville and Mikel Arteta (both Everton) in a 3-1 win for Liverpool on December 28,  2005
• Andy van der Meyde (Everton) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) in a 3-1 win for Liverpool on March 25, 2006
• Tony Hibbert and Phil Neville (both Everton) in a 2-1 win for Liverpool on October 20, 2007
• Tim Cahill (Everton) in a 2-0 win for Liverpool on September 27, 2008
• Steven Pienaar (Everton) and Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Liverpool) in a 1-0 win for Liverpool on February 6, 2010
• Jack Rodwell (Everton) in a 2-0 win for Liverpool on October 1, 2011
• Ramiro Funes Mori (Everton) in a 4-0 win for Liverpool on April 20, 2016
• Richarlison (Everton) in a 2-2 draw on October 17, 2020
• Ashley Young (Everton) in a 2-0 win for Liverpool on October 21, 2023