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Leicester City handed VAR official for Newcastle clash who David Moyes claimed ‘shouldn’t be…

The feel-good factor has returned to the King Power Stadium with supporters enjoying the football Leicester City are playing under Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper at the end of last month after the Dutchman impressed during a short interim spell at Manchester United.

Since then, the 48-year-old has overseen two impressive performances in the Premier League, securing a 3-1 win over West Ham before Leicester drew 2-2 against Brighton.

Now, the former striker arguably faces his toughest test yet as Leicester travel to Newcastle United on Saturday having won just one of their last six meetings against the Magpies.

Van Nistelrooy will have to try to secure a priceless three points without some of his key first-teamers as six Leicester stars could miss the Newcastle match.

Wilfried Ndidi and Harry Winks are both doubts, Boubakary Soumare is suspended while long-term absentees Abdul Fatawu, Ricardo Pereira and Jakub Stolarczyk remain sidelined.

To make matters worse, Leicester have been handed a VAR official for the clash who has caused lots of controversy in the past.

Referee Jarred Gillett during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Brentford FC at King Power Stadium on August 7, 2022 in Leicester...

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Jarred Gillett named as VAR official for Leicester vs Newcastle

As revealed by the Premier League, experienced official Jarred Gillett has been named on VAR for their trip to St James Park.

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Like many top-flight officials, Gillett has made some high-profile mistakes in the past, including in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over West Ham during the 2022/23 campaign.

Gillett was the video referee for that game, and he made a huge error. The Hammers thought they had scored a late equaliser when Maxwel Cornet fired home following an Edouard Mendy mistake.

However, despite initially awarding the goal, on-field ref Andrew Madley was told to check the pitchside monitor for an alleged foul on the Blues keeper by Jarrod Bowen.

While replays appeared to show Bowen hadn’t fouled Mendy, the West Ham forward was penalised leaving boss David Moyes incensed.

In his post-match interview, per The Mirror, Moyes suggested that Gillett ‘shouldn’t be anywhere near football’, feeling that his side were blatantly robbed.

“I’m actually more embarrassed for the guy who did the VAR than I am even for the referee,” Moyes said.

“Because that’s telling me it’s someone who doesn’t understand football and probably shouldn’t be near it, if they think that was enough to send the referee to the screen.”

Leicester City’s record when Jarred Gillett has been involved in a game

The above incident that left Moyes angered wasn’t the only time Gillett has been lambasted by a manager; he’s also had his runnings with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

Luckily, when looking back on previous Leicester games the Australian has officiated, there are only three as a video assistant and six as a referee.

Across those games, his record reads four wins, one draw and four losses, with six yellow cards handed out.

Gillett was most recently on VAR during Van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge, a 3-1 win over the Hammers, and there wasn’t any controversy there.

Hopefully, that remains the case this weekend.

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