Newcastle United return to Premier League competition against Wolves on Saturday and have already been given a possible early advantage.
After an awkward start to the campaign, Newcastle United will be aiming to pick up their first victory of the season when Wolves visit St. James’ Park.
Newcastle have only got two points on the board so far, both from goalless draws, but Eddie Howe was having to cope without a quality striker amid the Alexander Isak saga.
Isak has now joined Liverpool and Newcastle have Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa in his place to give the side much-needed firepower.
Newcastle couldn’t have hoped for a better fixture than Wolves at home, either, as Vitor Pereira’s side are the only team yet to pick up a point in the Premier League this season.
To further swing the odds in Newcastle’s favour, the official appointment of Chris Kavanagh as referee for the game looks to be of benefit to the Magpies.
Referee Chris Kavanagh during Fulham vs Manchester United.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Chris Kavanagh referee appointment could give an advantage to Newcastle United
Kavanagh will be the man in charge for the important fixture on Saturday, and he is a referee that Newcastle have grown familiar with in recent years.
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Since beginning his career as a referee in the Football League in 2014, then earning his promotion to the Premier League in 2017, Kavanagh has refereed Newcastle more than any other club.
He has taken charge of 31, soon to be 32, Newcastle games, with the Toon winning 13 of them, drawing seven and losing 11.
The key possible advantage over Wolves, though, is that in those 31 games, Kavanagh is yet to send off a single Newcastle player.
In contrast, in the 20 games he has taken charge of Wolves, he had sent off three players, the joint-most red cards he’s brandished to a single team, alongside Everton.
The most-recent dismissal came in the last Wolves game Kavanagh officiated, with Matheus Cunha being sent off for violent conduct in a penalty defeat to Bournemouth in the FA Cup in January.
Nelson Semedo was sent off in 2024 and Ivan Cavaleiro was given his marching orders in 2017.
In addition, Kavanagh officiated Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Wolves last season, so all signs point towards him being a good appointment for Howe’s side.
Chris Kavanagh’s refereeing stats so far in the 2025-26 season
Kavanagh has been a busy referee this season, taking charge of seven matches already.
Three of those came in Europa League qualifying, while he has also officiated Crystal Palace’s Community Shield triumph over Liverpool and three Premier League fixtures.
Kavanagh took charge of the big clash between Liverpool and Arsenal, Manchester United’s trip to Fulham and Leeds United’s return to the Premier League against Everton.
Games Yellow cards Red cards Penalties
7 24 0 4
Chris Kavanagh’s referee stats so far this season
While Kavanagh is yet to send anyone off this season, he has already given four penalties and shown 24 yellow cards – with eight coming in a single game between FC Utrecht and Servette FC.
There was also some brief controversy after he was criticised by Man U’s Bruno Fernandes for bumping into him ahead of taking a last-minute penalty against Fulham.
If the trend continues, there might be some interesting incidents in Saturday’s fixture.