Controversial ref appointed to north London derby | OneFootball

Michael Oliver is set to make his long-awaited return to refereeing Arsenal matches this weekend, taking on the north London derby on Sunday.

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The Premier League have confirmed their match appointments for the upcoming round of fixtures following the November international break, and Michael Oliver will referee Arsenal’s north London derby match against Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.

Oliver will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Michael Salisbury as the fourth official.

Stuart Attwell will be on VAR, with Constantine Hatzidakis as his assistant VAR for the match.

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Michael Oliver has significant experience refereeing Arsenal matches, taking on games involving the Gunners on 62 occasions already. The only team he’s refereed more times is Liverpool (67).

Yet after refereeing at least five Arsenal matches in four of the last five seasons, Oliver stopped at just four games in 2024/25, and it’s now been almost 10 months since he last took one of the Gunners’ games.

It’s not hard to figure out why, as Oliver’s last game involved controversially sending off Myles Lewis-Skelly. It was an incorrect decision, and it was subsequently overturned after an appeal, but not before Arsenal fans had made their feelings transparently clear.

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With all the scrutiny around Oliver’s mistake, the PGMOL wisely decided not to give him any further Arsenal matches for the remainder of the season, nor the first few months of the new campaign.

Yet they’re now bringing him back for the north London derby, which seems like a risk. The fixture is bound to force Oliver to make big calls, and he may not leave Sunday’s match any more popular with Arsenal fans than he’ll start it.