As soon as Liverpool and Manchester United were drawn together in the Europa League, we could sense we had a fiery game on our hands.
And any suggestion it could turn into a damp squib has been quelled by the appointment of Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo to take charge of the game.
Velasco was in charge of Brazil’s bad-tempered World Cup clash with Colombia, during which Neymar suffered a tournament-ending injury, but it seems criticism of his leniency in that game may have something to do with him becoming card-happy at domestic level.
The last four games in La Liga to be refereed by the 44-year-old have each seen a player sent off, with the ref dishing out 29 yellow cards across the quartet of matches.
In the intervening period, Velasco also took charge of Chelsea’s Champions League first-leg tie with Paris Saint-Germain (five yellows, no reds) and Valencia’s Copa Del Rey second leg (six yellows and no reds, despite the tie being over as a contest after Barcelona’s 7-0 first leg win).
Looking at his recent record, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spaniard reach for his pocket at Anfield on Thursday.
Carlos Velasco Carballo’s last four La Liga games:
Deportivo de La Coruña 3-3 Málaga
Yellow Cards – 8 (Luis Alberto, Miguel Torres, Álex Bergantiños, Charles, Ignacio Camacho, Pedro Mosquera, Manu, Albentosa)
Red Cards – 1 (Ignacio Camacho)
Sporting Gijón 2-4 Espanyol
Yellow Cards – 7 (Omar Mascarell, Javi López, Jorge Meré, Carlos Castro, Isma López, Antonio Sanabria, Óscar Duarte)
Red Cards – 1 (Nacho Cases)
Celta de Vigo 1-1 Sevilla
Yellow Cards – 7 (Federico Fazio, Sergio Gómez, Theo Bongonda, Yevhen Konoplyanka, Iago Aspas, Sergio Escudero, Sergio Rico)
Red Cards – 1 (Federico Fazio)
Levante 3-2 Las Palmas
Yellow Cards – 7 (Roque Mesa, Toño, Deyverson, Javi Varas, Aythami Artiles, Xumetra, Wakaso Mubarak)
Red Cards – 1 (Deyverson)
