David Coote left VAR and referee duty after controversial decisions that angered Liverpool during the draw with Everton

The video assistant referee (VAR) in charge of Saturday’s controversial Merseyside derby has been removed from the front row this weekend.

David Coote was the man in charge of reviewing all the big decisions at Stockley Park on Saturday and enraged Liverpool with his calls.

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Coote failed to verify a red card violation for Jordan Pickford’s horror challenge on Virgil van Dijk.

He also ruled out Jordan Henderson’s late goal, who would have been the winner for Liverpool, due to an apparent offside in preparation.

Liverpool were furious at both decisions, in particular the entry on Van Dijk, which has left their influential defender on the sidelines for many months.

PGMOL, the body responsible for match officials, has now decided to relinquish Coote the referee or VAR duties for this weekend’s round of games.

Coote will act as the fourth official at West Ham vs Manchester City.

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Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey joined talkSPORT Breakfast on Monday and said officials had made a mistake with their decisions, particularly the offside call at the end.

Halsey told talkSPORT: “I couldn’t see which part of her body was out of play. When we looked at it, when we saw it in real time, then we saw it in playback and in slow motion, they can put those lines anywhere.

“We know that those lines are not 100 percent in those situations. When was the actual ball kicked? Did it move just after the ball was kicked or did it move just as the ball was played?

“When you take that long to check for offside, you can usually say on the first rep, ‘yeah, it’s offside. Well done VAR ‘.

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“In those situations, when you’re checking and checking and checking, you can slow things down and make them look the way you want them to.

“For me, we have to give those. If you can’t tell on the first rep and when you put those lines in, then it’s a target. “