As if Merseyside derby's are volatile enough now Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard is at the centre of a major storm brewing between his club and Everton.
Evertonians claim that the England midfield star intentionally influenced referee Mark Clattenburg to send off defender Tony Hibbert after he had fouled Gerrard to give away a penalty on Saturday.
Television pictures show Clattenburg immediately reaching for a yellow card after the offence took place. Gerrard walks towards the referee and says something to him. Seconds later Clattenburg puts the yellow card back in his pocket and instead brandishes the red one.
Technically Hibbert deserved to be sent to the line as he was the last defender between Gerrard and Tim Howard's goals but the sequence of events will anger fans of the Toffeemen.
Liverpool left Goodison Park with a 2-1 win but Everton manager David Moyes blasted the referee for some of his dubious decisions.
That win brought Liverpool to within six points of league leaders Arsenal who left it late to see off the heroic challenge of manager less Bolton Wanderers 2-0 at the Emirates stadium.
Arsene Wegner's side face Liverpool and Manchester Untied in their next two Premiership games.
At Villa Park, Manchester United showed just why they're the team to beat at the moment when they notched up another win when they thumped Aston Villa 4-1.
Tonight Newcastle United will be hoping to keep their decent run of results going when they host under fire Tottenham at St. James Park. The Magpies have won two of their last three Premiership games and will be confident of adding to Martin Jol's woes in the North east tonight.
By Graham Clifford
