Arne Slot will have to hand over the reins of his Liverpool team tonight as he serves a suspension against Southampton.

The Reds will be looking to book their place in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup this evening as they make the long journey south, and take their head coach a step closer to a first trophy since taking over in the summer. Slot though will be watching on from the stands, having picked up his third yellow card of the season during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.

It means the Liverpool head coach must serve a one-game touchline ban, leaving his coaching staff to lead things from the dugout. In Slot’s absence, his right-hand man Sipke Hulshoff will be left in charge tonight.

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The 49-year-old followed Slot to Anfield from Feyenoord during the summer, having also acted as his assistant in Feyenoord after being promoted to that role in 2022.

Hulshoff first crossed paths with Slot at Dutch side Cambuur, where the now-Liverpool boss was in charge in 2016/17. They would later reunite at Feyenoord, with Hulshoff initially working with the under-21s.

Until stepping into the void left by Jurgen Klopp's former assistant Pep Lijnders, Hulshoff had been combining his Feyenoord duties with a role in the Netherlands national team setup. As such, the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo were already familiar with him.

"He is very clear and tactically strong," Van Dijk said of Hulshoff last year, speaking to Voetbal International. “I like the moments when he leads a training session. I think I also speak for the group."

But Hulshoff resigned from that role ahead of Euro 2024, seemingly to help facilitate a move to Liverpool. He hasn't returned to Ronald Koeman's setup since arriving on Merseyside, instead focusing all of his efforts on the Reds.

Hulshoff has a couple of unusual teams on his CV, having previously been the manager of Red Bull Ghana and Al-Arabi. But for the vast majority of his career, at various age-group levels, he has worked as an assistant.

Liverpool.com says: Hulshoff will command plenty of respect from the Liverpool players considering they will now be very familiar with him, and not just the Dutch contingent. It is of course still Slot's team though, so we shouldn't expect any drastic changes in approach this evening, barring what should be a much-changed team.

Hulshoff will have a bit of free rein this evening - the main objective for Liverpool is that they get through the game without any more injuries, and it's not like fans are going to turn on him if things don't go according to plan, with Slot back in the hot seat at the weekend.

An original version of this article was first published on May 27, 2024.