Liverpool will renew acquaintances with assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis in next Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final encounter against Spurs. He has not been involved (in an on-field capacity) in a fixture involving the Reds since appearing to elbow Andy Robertson in April 2023.

The incident took place in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal. Making a case to the official at half-time, Robertson then seemingly caught an elbow from Hatzidakis, to his evident bewilderment.

Had the FA found the action to be deliberate, Hatzidakis could well have been looking at a lengthy ban. But he faced no further action after apologizing to Robertson, with the Scot reportedly accepting his explanation of what happened. However, the official has been kept away from Liverpool matches ever since, with the League Cup fixture set to be his first on-field Reds assignment since Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp last summer.

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"I fully assisted the FA with their investigation and have discussed the matter directly with Andy Robertson during an open and positive conversation," said Hatzidakis at the time.

"It was certainly not my intention to make any contact with Andy as I pulled my arm away from him and for that I have apologized. I look forward to returning to officiating matches."

Hatzidakis has been a regular Premier League presence as an assistant referee since then. He has also taken sole charge of matches in the Women's Super League, and has thrice been involved in Liverpool matches in a VAR capacity.

But his physical return to Liverpool assignments could hardly be more high-profile, with Slot seeking to take a big step toward his first final as Reds boss. There's also plenty of water under the bridge when it comes to Spurs and officiating, following the abysmal VAR breakdown last season involving Luis Diaz.

Stuart Attwell is set to be the man in the middle for the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. James Mainwaring will be running the line alongside Hatzidakis.

No doubt Hatzidakis will be hoping for a controversy-free evening. Whether he is reunited with Robertson remains to be seen, with the 30-year-old's form under the microscope and Kostsas Tsimikas back in contention after returning from injury.

Liverpool.com says: This incident was pretty well resolved at the time. Robertson clearly accepted Hatzidakis' version of events, so there was no reason for Liverpool to feel especially aggrieved with the outcome.

Even so, it probably made sense to keep the official away from Liverpool games for a while. It's clearly felt that enough time has passed, but there's bound to be extra scrutiny on his performance in the Spurs game. Here's hoping it's an incident-free match.