FA officially charge Liverpool for surroundinng the referee in the 4-1 drubbing against Manchester City

The Football Association (FA) have charged Liverpool for an incident during the Merseysiders' 4-1 defeat against Manchester City on 1 April.

In the 34th minute of the match, the Reds' players surrounded referee Simon Hooper as they asked for Rodri to be booked for the second time. The FA have now released a statement regarding the matter that read (via Mirror):

"Liverpool FC has been charged after its players surrounded a match official during the 34th minute of their Premier League game against Manchester City FC on Saturday 1 April."

The statement continued:

"It’s alleged that Liverpool FC failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or do not behave in a way which is improper, and the club has until Wednesday 12 April to respond."

The clash at Etihad was tied at 1-1 when the incident took place. Jurgen Klopp's side went on to lose the match by a score of 4-1.

Former referee Mark Hasley has previously warned the Mersysiders that a fine could be on the way for their conduct. He said (via the aforementioned source):

"Rodri can count himself lucky Simon Hooper chose to referee the game in a lenient way because on another day his first-half challenge on Cody Gakpo could have resulted in him getting a second yellow card for denying a promising attack."

Liverpool can hand Manchester City's title charge a boost

Liverpool will return to action on 8 April as they take on Arsenal in a Premier League clash at Anfield. With a win against the Gunners, Klopp's side can hand Manchester City a massive boost.

The Cityzens are competing with Mikel Arteta's side in the race for the Premier League title. However, they are eight points behind Arsenal who have 72 points, having played a game less than their rivals.

Considering Arsenal and City still have a fixture to play this season, a win for the Reds at Anfield on 8 April could potentially hamper the north Londoners' title charge. The Gunners are aiming to win the league title for the first time since the 2003-04 season.