Liverpool get fresh Southampton red card verdict as Adam Lallana decision reviewed

Former Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana should not have been sent off for a challenge on Ryan Gravenberch, according to former Premier League referee Jeff Winter. The 36-year-old was booked for a rash challenge on the Dutchman midway through the first-half of the Reds 3-2 win over Southampton.

Lallana, who spent six years at Anfield, launched a full-blooded tackle on Gravenberch as they duelled for a loose ball in the Saints half. There was little remonstration from the Liverpool players while the 22-year-old was down in a heap.

Roy Keane suggested that due to Lallana's lack of a hard-tackling image, he got away with the challenge as Samuel Barrott only brandished a yellow card. Both Sue Smith and former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher agreed that Lallana was fortunate not to be shown a red card during Sunday's encounter with his former club on Sky Sports News' Ref Watch.

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But Winter, who officiated more than 250 professional matches including 185 in the Premier League, wasn't of the same opinion and admitted that the correct decision was a yellow in his review of the incident.

"There were plenty of other moments in that game," he told Grosvenor Casino. "Take the tackle from Adam Lallana, for example. He received a yellow card, and I think that was the correct decision.

"He did jump at the opponent, but it was low and didn’t endanger the player. Not every foul warrants a card—yellow or red—and I think people sometimes forget that.

"This season, there’s been a tendency to expect every challenge to result in a card. If referees handed out cards for every foul, we’d end up with games like the ones we’ve seen with 16 yellow cards.

"And if you’ve set such a low threshold, it’s almost inevitable that someone will commit a second offence and get sent off. It’s a fine line to tread."