The Premier League have announced that Darren England will officiate Arsenal’s clash with Chelsea, which will remind Mikel Arteta of the referee’s mishap when the Gunners drew against Everton last season.
Fresh after thrashing Tottenham in the North London Derby, Arsenal step into another fierce London rivalry, welcoming Chelsea to N5.
It’s a must-win clash for the Gunners, who will have confidence in the fact that they’ve already beaten Liam Rosenior twice since he took charge of the Blues seven weeks ago.
While Arteta’s side has reason to believe they will walk away with three points, the appointment of England as the referee might slightly unnerve the Arsenal manager.
Fill the blanks: There will be __ points between Arsenal and Man City at the Etihad.
Arsenal might think about Darren England’s error against Everton when he referees the Chelsea clash
England will referee the London derby at the Emirates, with assistants named as Scott Ledger and Akil Howson, fourth official Stuart Attwell and on VAR, John Brooks and Dan Robathan.
The appointment will bring Arteta bad memories of England’s controversial display in Arsenal’s draw against Everton last season.
The official made several mistakes, the biggest being awarding Everton a very soft penalty after Myles Lewis-Skelly made minimal contact with Jack Harrison.
It wasn’t the only strange decision made in that game, as at the end of the game, he awarded Everton a free-kick, only to change his mind to blow for full-time, then restarted the game again so that the free-kick could be played.
England’s performance didn’t only concern those in the Arsenal camp, but former referees too, as when writing in his Football Insider column, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett scolded the official.
Hackett went as far as to state: “We really need to be asking if Darren England is frankly good enough to officiate at the elite level.”
Darren England’s record when refereeing Arsenal compared to Chelsea
That’s not what Arteta will want to relive ahead of Sunday afternoon’s London derby, but it’s not all doom and gloom.
What was your immediate reaction after watching Liam Rosenior’s outburst before Arsenal vs Chelsea?
England has refereed Arsenal seven times in the Premier League, and they’ve won five of those games, drawing one and losing one, the single defeat coming in 2022 against Newcastle.
For Chelsea, the record is less glamorous, as in six matches officiated by England, the Blues have won two, drawn three and lost one.
The defeat actually happened this season, when Chelsea lost 3-1 to Leeds United.
On Sunday, Arsenal will hope that their rivals fall to another loss with England in charge.
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