Premier League confirm Arsenal referee decision after Man City controversy

The Premier League have confirmed that Michael Oliver will take charge of Arsenal’s Premier League game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon. It’s just the second Gunners game he has taken charge of since he showed Leandro Trossard a controversial red card against Man City last year.

The referee showed Trossard a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in first half added time of the 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium back in September. Arsenal were leading 2-1 at the time.

They managed to maintain the lead until the 98th minute, despite their numerical disadvantage, with John Stones scoring a stoppage time equaliser for City. After the game, Mikel Arteta expressed his annoyance at the decision to send Trossard off.

"It's already the second time it has happened in five games, which is really, really worrying if we want to see the best Premier League,” he said.

"Anyone that has played football or any sport [can see] it's less than a second. Less than a second. The previous one [Doku] is more than a second. That's it, simple.”

Oliver has taken charge of one Arsenal game since the incident, with the referee overseeing the Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in November. Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Pedro Neto saw the game end in a 1-1 draw.

Looking ahead to the latest rounds of Premier League fixtures, the officials for the matches have now been released, with Oliver the man in the middle for Arsenal’s clash against Wolves at Molineux.

He will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring with the fourth official Tony Harrington.

Darren England is on VAR duty and will be assisted by Adrian Holmes.

At the same time Arsenal take on Wolves, top-of-the-table Liverpool will be in action too as they take on fellow strugglers Ipswich Town at Anfield.

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