Madley in the middle for Liverpool clash | OneFootball

Eddie Howe's side welcome the Premier League leaders, unbeaten away from home in all competitions since April, to St. James' Park and this will be the first time Madley has officiated a fixture involving the Magpies this term.

The 41-year-old referee, promoted to the Select Group 1 Referee List in June 2019, oversaw Newcastle’s 5-1 win against Aston Villa at St. James’ Park in August 2023 and handed out eight yellow cards that day, booking United quartet Sven Botman, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães and Anthony Gordon.

The Huddersfield-born official, older brother of fellow referee Bobby, oversaw the 2024 Emirates FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium and took charge of 35 competitive fixtures last season, showing a total of 122 yellow cards and four red cards.

2024/25 stats:

Games (all competitions): 13

Yellow cards issued: 41

Red cards issued: 1

Assistants:

Assistant referees: Wade Smith and Craig Taylor

Fourth official: Anthony Backhouse

VAR: Stuart Attwell

Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring