This afternoon’s Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton was always going to be a feisty contest and Ross Barkley set the tone with a challenge inside the first minute of the contest.Barkley, who was fortunate not to be red carded in the first derby of the season, came under yet more fire after a terrible tackle on Dejan Lovren in the first half.Referee Anthony Taylor showed the 23-year-old a yellow card but he deserved harsher punishment.After Barkley’s heavy touch, Lovren nipped in to retrieve the ball ahead of the Everton midfielder.But Barkley didn’t stop and went in hard on the Liverpool defender, catching him on the ankle with his studs raised high.There’s no denying that it was a challenge deserving of a red card."It's a really poor challenge by Ross Barkley,” Gary Neville told Sky Sports at half-time, per the Mirror. “I think it's a red card and I think Ross knows it. It's a shocker.
"It's the frustration of his touch being bad and he over-runs it. He then makes a poor tackle off the back of it. He goes right into Lovren's shin."
Check out Barkley’s tackle below.
Jamie Carragher, who knows the exact definition of a rash tackle, added: “His tackle on Can early on was a yellow card and he’s very lucky the challenge on Lovren wasn’t a red."
Klopp's reaction
Liverpool fans were furious on Twitter and one imagines Jurgen Klopp himself would have sent an angry tweet if he was on the social media platform.
Instead, Klopp was on the touchline. And his reaction was one of pure fury.
Lovren was fortunate to escape unhurt. The same can’t be said for Sadio Mane though, who left the game with an injury in the second half.
Mane opened the scoring for the Reds and it’ll be devastating news if the Senegal star is out for a while.