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Liverpool Complained About Chris Kavanagh After 2025-26 Loss vs Man City

By Admin / October 12, 2026

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was left disappointed by Chris Kavanagh’s decision to show Ryan Gravenberch two yellow cards during the 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City.

Enzo Maresca’s side travelled to Anfield in their first match since being found guilty of 114 financial breaches. The game was in the balance when Gravenberch was given his marching orders in the 62nd minute.

Former Premier League referee Graham Barber admitted the first of his two bookings could be seen as a harsh decision. Iraola stated that the first caution was undeserved, explaining after the game (per ESPN):

“I think the first foul of Ryan is never a yellow card, never. These kinds of games, just a stomp on the big toe, or something minor. He doesn’t even call the foul straight away. He lets it go, I think Elliot Anderson does a couple of steps. He decides to go down. I don’t know why after he shows the yellow card, because it’s not a situation where it leaves advantage.

“We had nine players behind the ball. It’s like they had a lot of, you know, it was in the middle of the pitch, no danger there.”

Liverpool Have History With Chris Kavanagh

van dijk robertson liverpool

It’s not the first time Kavanagh, born in Manchester, has been at the heart of controversy in a Liverpool vs Man City fixture. The 41-year-old was in charge for the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium in the 2025-26 season.

Arne Slot’s side were comfortably beaten 3-0, but were on the receiving end of a controversial decision while the game was much closer. It almost felt like déjà vu on Sunday afternoon for the Reds.

Virgil van Dijk thought he’d equalised against City last season, powering a header past Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, celebrations were cut short when Kavanagh judged Andy Robertson to have influenced the game from an offside position.

VAR official Michael Oliver backed the call, and the Reds went on to lose the game. Liverpool weren’t too happy with the referee’s decision and contacted the chief of the PGMOL, Howard Webb, to complain.

Key Events Timeline

  • November 2025 — Chris Kavanagh ruled out Virgil van Dijk’s header in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at City.
  • November 2025 — Liverpool contacted PGMOL to raise serious concerns over the Robertson offside call.
  • September 2026 — An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 of 115 financial charges.
  • October 2026 — Manchester City formally lodged an appeal against the commission’s guilty verdict.
  • October 2026 — Enzo Maresca insisted City would win their appeal days before travelling to Anfield.

The Merseysiders felt that Law 11 didn’t apply to Robertson and that he didn’t contribute despite being offside. Law 11 states an offside player is only penalised for becoming involved in active play by (per The Guardian):

“Interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a teammate, or interfering with an opponent by: preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision, or challenging an opponent for the ball or clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.”

Why Chris Kavanagh Can Referee Man City

Referee Chris Kavanagh

Many Liverpool fans were quick to point out that Kavanagh was born in Manchester, which raised a question of whether there is a conflict of interest when officiating Man City games.

However, Premier League rules only prevent referees from taking part in fixtures involving the club they support or their rivals. For example, Michael Oliver is a Newcastle fan. Therefore, he can’t officiate Magpies matches or Sunderland games.

Kavanagh officially supports the Greater Manchester-based club, Droylsden FC. This means he isn’t prevented from refereeing any side in the English top-flight.

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