Jurgen Klopp charged by FA following chaotic scenes and referee accusations

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on April 30, 2023 (Image: Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been accused by the Football Association of allegedly inappropriate behavior after making comments about referee Paul Tierney.

The FA issued a statement on Tuesday confirming the decision, and Klopp has until Friday to respond to allegations that his comments about the referee “involve bias and/or call into question the integrity of the referee and/or or personally”. game in disrepute.

It comes after the incident in question against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon. Following a pulsating match, Klopp celebrated wildly in front of fourth official John Brooks after Liverpool forward Diogo Jota came off the bench to grab a dramatic late winner.

Liverpool won the game 4-3 to make it five victories on the spin. However, those touchline antics have been heavily condemned by former Premier League officials Keith Hackett, Mark Clattenburg and Peter Walton as Klopp went on to accuse Tierney of uttering an inappropriate comment, before questioning what the referee has against his side due to previous contested decisions.

Naturally, the Reds manager was pressed on that exchange during his latest press conference – before taking on Fulham – and Klopp did acknowledge the incident should not have happened. However, the German coach will now await potential repercussions from the governing body.

Speaking about the incident, Klopp told reporters: “The whole situation shouldn’t have happened at all. It was out of emotion, anger and that is never a good leader for the things you do… I was still angry, which led to the way I celebrated.”

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Supercomputer predicts Liverpool’s Champions League chances after beating Tottenham Hotspur 

Liverpool beat Spurs 4-3 in the Premier League to retain their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, although Manchester United and Newcastle also won.

Champions League football remains Liverpool’s focus this season, but the longer the games last the slimmer the chances of that seem to be.

This seems odd considering Liverpool have won their last four games in a row. Still, they look further away from finishing in the Premier League’s top four than they were a few weeks ago.

Manchester United and Newcastle’s consistent wins and results are the reason for this reality. While the odds remain slim, beating a European rival is always a big win, if only to get into pole position for a consolation place in the Europa League. And when such a win is a 4-3 score, with an injury time winner, it only adds to the excitement and euphoria.

Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to boost their Champions League qualification hopes. He led the Reds to fifth in the table, but still seven points clear of the top four, having played one game more than Manchester United.

Jürgen Klopp has to prepare his side for five more games this season before the players have a few weeks off. For him, however, it will probably be spent on helping him get some transfers.

All of that will come in due time, but for now the task is to win as many matches as possible. And as another Premier League weekend draws to a close, it’s time for another look at the latest expected table.

Respected statistics website FIveThirtyEight regularly updates its spreadsheet to provide the latest Premier League arrival predictions. They’ve cracked the numbers and, unsurprisingly, still believe Liverpool won’t finish in the top four.

However, the website predicted that the Reds would finish just outside the Champions League positions in fifth place. The prediction sees Manchester City win the title with 90 points, six ahead of second-placed Arsenal.

Liverpool is tipped to finish on 66 points, which would mean dropping five over the course of the final five fixtures. Manchester United is the team predicted to finish fourth, on 73 points, seven ahead of Liverpool, while Newcastle is in third on 74 points. Even if Klopp’s side won each of its remaining fixtures, it could not get higher than 71 points, which is not projected to be enough (although it has been for the past two campaigns). 

In terms of Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League, the website has updated the predictions for that, too. It has given the Reds a nine per cent likelihood of making up the ground to finish in the top four, which has actually fallen since before the weekend.

Compared to Manchester United (91%) and Newcastle (95%), this is significantly fewer. But that’s more than the four per cent awarded to Brighton, while Tottenham didn’t even have a chance to finish in the top four following the defeat.

Liverpool are likely to plan a Champions League-free season next season. In that case, the best-case scenario would be to compete in the Europa League instead.

What effect that will have on the club’s transfer activity this summer, only time will tell. You’d be surprised if Liverpool haven’t prepared for the possibility of not taking part in the Champions League, but what that entails is something only the people at the club know for sure.