Andy Madley's Arne Slot clash and Harry Maguire 'head loss' as Liverpool appointment confirmed

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Referee Andy Madley will oversee Liverpool's fixture against Nottingham Forest when they resume Premier League duties at Anfield this weekend. The 42-year-old was at the centre of multiple contentious officiating decisions in England's top flight last season, including one match that frustrated Reds' manager Arne Slot .

The Dutchman had a confrontation with the official during Liverpool's 3-3 stalemate with Newcastle United in December 2024, amongst several other notable incidents throughout the last campaign. Madley will be seeking a far calmer afternoon at Anfield this weekend for the encounter with Sean Dyche's outfit.

Here, The Mirror examines the incidents involving the official that have sparked debate in recent months.

Madley irritated Liverpool manager Arne Slot during the Reds' 3-3 stalemate with Eddie Howe's team last term. The Dutchman was spotted having words with the referee as they headed down the tunnel at the interval, before being alleged to have entered Madley's changing room to challenge him.

Amazon Prime host Dan Walker stated during the coverage: "We do know that Arne Slot went to see him at the break, after 45 minutes, and obviously, Eddie Howe wasn't best pleased about that. I'm sure there's going to be more said and more written and more spoken about that in the future."

However, our sister title, the Liverpool ECHO, says this incident did not occur, despite Slot and Madley having a verbal exchange in the tunnel. It's also understood that nothing inappropriate was said by the Liverpool manager during their brief chat.

Amazon Prime later issued an apology to Slot, attributing the error to a production misunderstanding.

When questioned about the incident later in the day, Howe responded: "I don't think I'll go there because I think that's a can of worms that I should not [open]."

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Like all referees, they must remain unbiased, which means there are certain matches Madley is prohibited from officiating. The 42-year-old is barred from refereeing games involving Huddersfield Town due to his support for the Terriers.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have a rule that prevents referees or their assistants from officiating matches involving the team they support, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

Furthermore, officials are not assigned to matches involving their nearest geographical club. These rules are not imposed by FIFA or the FA, but are internal regulations enforced by the PGMOL to safeguard the integrity of the game.

Last season, PGMOL chief and former Premier League referee Howard Webb was compelled to issue a statement clarifying Madley's decision not to disqualify Newcastle's equaliser in their 2-1 victory over Tottenham . The ball had hit the arm of Magpies midfielder Joelinton during the lead-up to the goal.

The ball then landed at the feet of Bruno Guimaraes, who set up Anthony Gordon for the goal.

"There's no doubt, the ball does strike Joelinton's hand, and then the goal is scored fairly quickly afterwards," Webb stated. "But Joelinton doesn't score the goal. The ball goes to Guimaraes, I believe, and then it goes to Gordon, who scores.

"Of course, we can only penalise handball in certain circumstances. Not every contact with the hand or arm on the ball is something we would penalise. We see this situation and the VAR describes it really well. Joelinton's arm [is] in a really normal position as he's moving and then when the ball does strike him from quite close range, it's down by his side. The ball hits the arm and then ricochets off.

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"He doesn't move the arm in the direction of the ball. The arm is moving naturally. He doesn't, importantly, make himself unnaturally bigger. His arm is close to his body so that's not a handball offence. He wouldn't be penalised with a penalty [against him] if he did that in his own penalty area.

"The only time he'd ever be penalised for that is if he scored immediately from that contact or if it [the ball] went directly in off that particular arm but that's not what happens here. So we agree it's not a handball offence.

"Tottenham might feel unlucky [because of] the way the ricochet played out and the goal was scored. But the laws of the game stipulate quite clearly that position isn't something that you would penalise."

Madley has stirred up controversy during several matches involving Manchester United , including during Everton's 2-2 draw with Ruben Amorim's side at Goodison Park back in February. David Moyes ' team were denied an injury-time penalty and potentially all three points after Ashley Young fell in the box following contact with both Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.

Initially, Madley awarded the penalty before the decision was overturned by VAR, leading to boos echoing around Goodison. The Red Devils may have been on the right side of the decision then, but Man United fans were demanding Madley's dismissal a month prior.

They flocked to social media in large numbers during their team's FA Cup third-round penalty shootout victory over Arsenal in January 2025. The Gunners were given a soft penalty in normal time after Kai Havertz fell in the box, but contact appeared minimal and some believed the German had taken a dive.

However, United supporters felt justice was done when goalkeeper Altay Bayindir saved the subsequent penalty. That did little to stem the wave of criticism aimed at Madley online.

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One fan wrote on X: "The referee has been appalling. Sack him." Another commented: "Can we sack Madley at half time? This referee performance is a HORROR SHOW."

"Absolute nonsense performance from Madley," a fourth X user declared.

Madley was also criticised for inconsistently applying the rules throughout the match, and allowing players to hold and pull each other in the box during set pieces - something the PGMOL vowed to clamp down on at the start of the season.

United escaped FA sanctions despite their official X account posting "Justice" after the match. Rio Ferdinand also shared a pointed remark after being left disappointed with Madley's display.

"Another battling performance... desire, willingness to fight as a team! Bet the ref's gutted," he wrote following United's shootout victory.

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Speaking after the aforementioned Arsenal match, United defender Harry Maguire acknowledged he lost his composure when Madley awarded the penalty. There was no VAR available, which only frustrated the defender - who had conceded the spot kick - even more.

"At the time when he gave it... my initial instinct was that it will be alright, VAR will turn it over and then I clicked in my head that VAR could not intervene," Maguire confessed. "So that's when my head went a little bit.