Burnley vs Liverpool: Carragher condemns Kerkez for ‘absolutely stupid’ dive before defender is substituted

Jamie Carragher called Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez’s play-acting “ridiculous” after the 21-year-old collected a yellow card at Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.

Left-back Kerkez, who joined the Reds for £40 million from Bournemouth in July, went down in theatrical fashion as Clarets midfielder Josh Laurent pursued him inside the box.

“It was a dive,” former Liverpool defender Carragher told Sky Sports, praising referee Michael Oliver for spotting the simulation.

“There are no doubts about it. That is absolutely stupid.”

"No, no, be quiet Dave!" 😅

Roy Keane weighs in on Milos Kerkez being hooked after 38 minutes against Burnley 🔎 pic.twitter.com/9GgY0hmu1O

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 14, 2025

Burnley vs Liverpool: Kerkez substituted

Kerkez, who has started all four of his new side’s league matches this season, was replaced by Andy Robertson with half-time approaching, having risked dismissal with a foul on Jaidon Anthony.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot appeared to explain his decision to the Hungary international, who was also booked in the opening match of the season at home to Bournemouth.

“That’s good management from Slot,” said Carragher. “What Kerkez did – with the booking – was ridiculous.”

Liverpool had won all of their first three matches of the season and had 78% of first-half possession at Turf Moor but were unable to break the deadlock before half-time.

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Burnley team vs Liverpool

Right-back Kyle Walker was fresh for the hosts after being left out of the England squad for the World Cup double-header against Andorra and Serbia but forward Zeki Amdouni remained sidelined with injury.

Manager Scott Parker brought in Laurent and forward Loum Tchaouna. On-loan Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis was on the bench.

Centre-back Jordan Beyer and right-back Connor Roberts were still out, while Lyle Foster and Anthony started again after scoring in the 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on August 30.

Burnley will have taken plenty of positives from their trip to Old Trafford, where they were denied a point by a 97th-minute Bruno Fernandes penalty.

Burnley starting XI: Martin Dubravka, Kyle Walker, Hjalmar Ekdal, Maxime Esteve, Quilindschy Hartman, Josh Cullen, Josh Laurent, Lesley Ugochukwu, Loum Tchaouna, Jaidon Anthony, Kyle Foster

Burnley substitutes: Max Weiss, Joe Worrall, Marcus Edwards, Bashir Humphreys, Florentino Luis, Zian Flemming, Lucas Pires, Armando Broja, Hannibal Mejbri

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Liverpool team vs Burnley

Liverpool were unchanged from their 1-0 home win over Arsenal on August 31, with Alexander Isak not in their matchday squad.

The 25-year-old had an 18-minute run-out during Sweden’s 2-0 defeat in Kosovo on Monday and Liverpool boss Arne Slot praised Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson for his careful treatment of Isak.

Isak is yet to make his Reds debut following his British-record £125 million signing from Newcastle on September 1.

He trained for the first time with his new club on Wednesday but is severely lacking match fitness, having missed the Magpies’ pre-season and the opening three weeks of the campaign.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s sublime second-half free-kick gave Liverpool victory over the Gunners.

Liverpool starting XI: Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch

Liverpool substitutes: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Andy Robertson, Jeremy Frimpong, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha