Sam Allardyce refused to shed light on an incident between Mason Holgate and Roberto Firmino that enraged the Everton defender.

The flashpoint occurred during the FA Cup third round tie, which ended in Liverpool winning 2-1 thanks to a late goal from £75million debutant defender Virgil Van Dijk.

Holgate, the England Under-21 international, pushed Liverpool forward Firmino into the Main Stand as the pair chased a ball at the end of the first half. Firmino reacted in fury and charged towards Holgate. As the pair exchanged words, Holgate went berserk and needed to be restrained by his team-mates. Television footage indicated that Holgate made a serious accusation of the Brazil forward.

When asked about the collision, Allardyce said: 'I'm telling you nothing until whatever systems are used to find out what happened.

'I'm here to talk about football. Football is my life and anything outside that has to be dealt with by the authorities.

'Even if I had or I hadn't, I wouldn't tell anyone in the press conference. That is for other areas of the football club. I have told the Director of Football (Steve Walsh) to sort that out.'

Jurgen Klopp was similarly ambiguous when asked for his views. He had seen referee Bobby Madley and fourth official Jon Moss in discussions after Holgate and Firmino had been separated but did not know what it was about.

Klopp said: 'I only heard about it but I can't say anything about it. I haven't spoken to anyone. I misjudged the whole situation.

'I thought it was about the Holgate foul. I had information that something has happened but I don't know what happened.'