Arne Slot defends English referees amid Arsenal controversies as Liverpool prepare for title showdown with Gunners

The Reds manager expressed his frustration over some of the decisions made by the referee last weekend during his side's 2-1 win at home to Chelsea. While they emerged victorious in the end, Slot felt his team may have won more comfortably had some of those calls gone in their favour.

One week on, the Dutch coach has supported English referees, who have come under fire from across the Premier League of late. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was recently handed a five-match ban for spitting near the match officials, while Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs was charged by the FA for misconduct after their loss to Manchester City. Arsenal too have had their disciplinary issues in the 2024-25 campaign and have already seen three of their stars getting sent off.

Speaking to reporters, the 46-year-old said, "If I use my common sense, I would say we are role models. But we are also human beings. We sometimes feel if too many decisions go against you, emotions take the most out of you. We try to be role models. I speak for myself. I try to keep calm but in the Chelsea game, too many important decisions went against my team."

When asked about referees in the Premier League, the Dutchman added, "I’ve seen it once or twice in European competitions, managers who were able to influence the referee and then you feel you maybe need to do something against that. But here in England I haven’t experienced that at all. The referees were just not being influenced by my emotional act on Sunday and that has also not happened in all the previous games here."

Liverpool, who are on an eight-game winning streak across all competitions, will next take on Arsenal in a crucial encounter on Sunday. The Reds will move back to the top of the Premier League table above Manchester City with a win in north London.