Who will referee Arsenal-Palace & is there VAR? | OneFootball

The EFL have confirmed the match officials for Arsenal’s League Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace, coming up on Tuesday night.

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The EFL have officially confirmed the match officials for Arsenal’s match against Crystal Palace on Tuesday, with Stuart Attwell to referee, assisted by Constantine Hatzidakis and Nick Hopton.

Fourth official Andrew Kitchen will complete the team, with no VAR in use at this stage of the competition.

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Despite both Arsenal and Palace being Premier League teams with the capacity to utilise the video review system, it hasn’t been used in any of the quarter-final matches, and this is no exception.

The reason for this is that the EFL have decided to use VAR only when all host stadiums for that round of the competition have VAR capabilities at their stadium. Cardiff City were the one lower-league team in this round, but there will be no lower-league sides in the semi-finals.

As a result, it’s expected that VAR will be in use for the semi-final matches between Newcastle and Manchester City, and between Chelsea and either Crystal Palace or Arsenal. But for now, Stuart Attwell and his team will be doing without.

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Attwell only recently returned to refereeing Arsenal, having spent 22 months without a game involving the Gunners.

Attwell’s performance during Arsenal’s match away to Newcastle United in 2023 had been highly controversial, and he was taken off Arsenal matches for close to two years. But he ended that run by refereeing Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City in September.

For what it’s worth, the only time Attwell has refereed the Gunners against Crystal Palace was a 4-1 win for Mikel Arteta’s side in 2023. But the only time he’s refereed Arsenal in the League Cup was a 4-1 quarter-final defeat to Manchester City. So omens are mixed.