Darren England to referee Brighton v Sunderland | OneFootball

Darren England will referee Brighton v Sunderland at the Amex on Saturday, a week after a contentious VAR episode involving Albion. According to TheArgus.co.uk, the Doncaster official has been assigned to the middle, with James Bell on VAR.

England had the VAR role for Albion’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. Home fans and some media felt he should have stepped in after Craig Pawson booked Diego Gomez for a high challenge on Florian Wirtz.

England appeared to concur with the on-field call, or at least not deem it a clear and obvious error. He will take charge at the Amex for the second time this season, his first was the Seagulls’ 2-1 win over Manchester City.

His most recent outing was City’s 3-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Across domestic and European competitions, he has overseen 12 matches and shown 42 yellow cards, an average of 3.5 per game.

He has also issued one red card, to West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta during a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool, after what was arguably a harsh first booking for dissent. The officiating team for Albion v Sunderland is Darren England, assistants Scott Ledger and Akil Howson, fourth official Tim Robinson, VAR James Bell and assistant VAR Blake Antrobus.

Source: TheArgus.co.uk