Arne Slot denies calling fourth official 'a f*cking joke' with Liverpool boss running risk of suspension after touchline misunderstanding in draw with Arsenal

The Dutchman was accused of swearing at the fourth official during the trip to north London and was shown a yellow card by head referee Anthony Taylor for venting his frustrations. After the match, Slot admitted he thought Arsenal were time-wasting and was frustrated, but he denies directing any abusive language to the official on the side.

Speaking after the match, he said: "There were so many times that they were on the floor, which can happen so many times in football. I don’t blame them for that but it always happened after they had ball possession. That took the energy out of the game in my opinion. So I said to [Ibrahima Konaté]: ‘This is a f*cking joke,’ and the fourth official thought I said to him: ‘You are a f*cking joke.’ But that’s definitely not what I said. But I got a yellow for that and now I’m on two and I have to be careful."

One more yellow card for the new Reds boss will result in a touchline ban. Slot is far from the most animated manager in the Premier League but the referees cracking down on behaviour amongst the coaches means that suspensions are becoming more common. Despite his latest caution, the ex-Feyenoord head coach will take the small fine in exchange for a valuable point on the road.

Liverpool are on the road again in midweek as they head to Brighton in the Carabao Cup. They will then play the same opponents at Anfield in the Premier League three days later in what should be a cracking pair of fixtures, with only six points separating the two teams in the table.