Kavanagh named as referee for Carabao Cup final between Reds & Blues in move

Chris Kavanagh has been selected as the referee for the Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool.

Kavanagh will officiate the game at Wembley on February 25, but his appointment may not be too popular with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Mark Scholes and James Mainwaring will be the assistant referees, with Tim Robinson named as the fourth official and John Brooks overseeing VAR.

Klopp was livid when Kavanagh failed to award Liverpool a penalty during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Anfield on December 23.

The Liverpool boss was adamant that his side should have been awarded a penalty for a handball from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.

After the game, Klopp said: 'The penalty situation is a weird situation, I don't know if the ref can see it, but you look at it and I'm not sure how you can say it's not a penalty.'

Klopp was also critical of Kavanagh in his post-match press conference. He said: 'I didn't see it in the game, I saw it after and I think we all agree it was handball. But I always wait until Mr Dermot (Gallagher) explains it the next day (in his role as a TV analyst) what's really the case.

'He will find a way to explain to me why it was not handball. For me it's a clear handball. I have no idea if it would have influenced the result.'

In February 2021, Klopp was angry after Kavanagh gave Everton a penalty against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby. The incident related to Trent Alexander-Arnold fouling Dominic Calvert-Lewin the area.

Gylfi Sigurdsson scored from the spot, with Everton proceeding to win 2-0.

Klopp said after the game: 'I really think it is unfair to ask me because everybody asks me that question, so it means everybody thinks it was not a penalty. But that is not really important because the