The Premier League have announced that referee Craig Pawson will take charge of Liverpool’s home clash against Manchester United this Sunday afternoon.

United are the only team to have taken any points from Liverpool this season, as the Reds have won every league game so far, other than the game at Old Trafford where Adam Lallana’s goal earned Jurgen Klopp’s side a point after Marcus Rashford had put United 1-0 up in the first half.

The Liverpool Echo’s Paul Gorst tweeted out the announcement that Pawson would be in charge for the game and there were plenty of Liverpool fans who had their say by replying to his initial post.

Here’s what a few of them had to say:

Read Liverpool Verdict

There were a few more replies to Gorst’s tweet that we couldn’t include due to their language but they were quite happy that it isn’t Martin Atkinson in charge for the game like he was at Old Trafford as they felt he made a big mistake in not awarding a foul in the build-up to United’s opening goal.

In terms of the stats, no referee who has officiated more than ten games has awarded more fouls per game on average than Pawson, whilst only three referees have awarded more yellow cards per game on average than the 40-year-old.

These stats suggest that the Sheffield-born referee likes to put his whistle to his mouth more often than his peers, which could be a worry for the home team, who will likely want to keep the game quickly as a stop-start match will break up their rhythm against a United side who’d likely be delighted to escape from Anfield with a point.

As shown by some of the replies to Gorst’s tweet, plenty Liverpool fans were not happy with the referee the last time these two sides met and they’ll be hoping that they can simply focus on the result of the game rather than the performance of Pawson, and potentially VAR Paul Tierney, on Sunday.

Personally, I quite rate Pawson more than I do some of his colleagues, especailly Anthony Taylor and Atkinson!

I think Michael Oliver is the best referee in the league and I’d prefer him to be in charge on Sunday, but I’m quite pleased with Pawson’s appointment.

Do you think Craig Pawson is a good referee?

Yes

No