Liverpool take on Manchester United tonight in the Europa League, the first time that these teams have ever met in European competition, and suddenly interest in the much-maligned competition (for supporters of English teams anyway) has become much more serious.
There will be a lot of eyes on the match tonight, and that means that everybody would surely like to see the game allowed to flow due to the involvement of two English teams, but we have to admit having had a look at the ref's recent track records... It might no go as we want.
Carlos Velasco from Spain is the man in the middle, and he likes to show a card.
Spanish ref Carlos Carballo, who takes charge of #LFC v #MUFC tonight, has shown EIGHTY cards in his last 12 games. pic.twitter.com/pAjaFX5KAw
— Alan Brazil (@SportsBreakfast) March 10, 2016
Last 10 games of #LFCvMUFC assigned referee for tonight. He's shown at least 5 yellows per game and 9 yellows twice. pic.twitter.com/PHThmUj2CJ
— ℓυмιχgσαℓѕ™ (@LumixGoals) March 10, 2016
That makes for worrying reading.
We had a look at SportsFile photo to see if Velasco had taken charge of any Ireland games recently, and sure enough, here he is shielding the ball from David Meyler:
Great.
You have been warned, expect a stop-start affair and some questionable cards.
