Jürgen Klopp is set to come face-to-face with referee Paul Tierney once again this weekend. The 43-year-old match official has been appointed to take charge of the upcoming clash between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

A clash against a top-five side in the Premier League is exactly what the Reds do not need at this moment in time. Klopp's side have dropped points in four of the last five fixtures in the top flight of English football, which has since destroyed any hopes of competing for the title this time round.

The Reds have now slipped to third in the table, five points off leaders Arsenal. Heading into this fixture, the players have little but their pride - and a possible spot in Arne Slot's Liverpool plans - to play for. Whereas Spurs, who continue to chase Aston Villa in fourth place for a spot in the Champions League, will be well up for this meeting at Anfield.

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It will be Klopp's penultimate home match before he departs the club after nine years in charge - and he will be met by a familiar face in Tierney. The pair have previously clashed in two previous meetings between the two sides, with the German taking an initial dislike to Tierney after he sent off Andy Robertson during a 2-2 draw with the North London-based club in December 2021.

Harry Kane got away with a similar challenge to Robertson on the afternoon, while Diogo Jota also saw a penalty appeal waved off by Tierney. Speaking after the game, where Klopp was visibly frustrated with Tierney and was even handed a yellow card by him, the Liverpool boss said: "I have no problems with any referees. Only you.

“Mr Tierney told me he thinks Diogo stops on purpose because he wants the foul. First and foremost if you want to shoot you have to stop because he cannot run and shoot in the same moment. It will always be helpful if people have played football themselves in the past.”

The relationship worsened in May last year when Liverpool secured a late winner against Spurs in a 4-3 victory. When Jota secured all three points in the 94th minute, Klopp stormed down the touchline to celebrate in front of the match officials and then made a series of allegations against Tierney in his post-match interview.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Klopp said: "We have our story, our history with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us.

"I really don’t know. He will always say there’s nothing – and it’s not true, it cannot be. I have to say. It cannot be, I don’t understand it. I’m really not sure if it’s me because he looks at me. I don’t understand it.”

Liverpool.com says: Klopp was handed a two-match ban and fined $94,000 (£75k/€87k) by the FA for the comments. The first meeting between these two familiar foes also ended in controversy this season, after Luis Díaz's early goal was ruled out for offside - despite being onside. Spurs went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to a late own-goal from Joël Matip. If the scenes at the London Stadium between Klopp and Mohamed Salah were anything to go by, this could be a fiery one.