Leeds United take on Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday, in their first game away from home in the top flight this season.
Leeds United kicked off their 2025/26 Premier League campaign with a strong win at Elland Road on Monday night.
A late penalty from summer signing Lukas Nmecha saw Leeds United beat Everton 1-0 in their opening fixture. But Daniel Farke’s side will have a real test of their quality away at Arsenal on Saturday evening.
The Whites head to the Emirates Stadium to take on Mikel Arteta’s side. With Viktor Gyokeres as their new front man, the Gunners got their season underway with a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday.
Referee Jarred Gillett.
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Premier League announce referee for Arsenal vs Leeds United
As ever, who the referee is will prove a talking point. For the game between Leeds and Arsenal it’ll be Jarred Gillett, and it’s news that really hasn’t gone down well with Gunners fans on social media who’ve dealt with controversial decisions with the Australian in the past.
The main one that Gunners fans remember is back from October. Then VAR referee, Gillett ordered referee Rob Jones to check the VAR monitor, before Jones then overturned an initial yellow card for William Saliba and sent the Frenchman off, resulting in a 2-0 Arsenal loss at Bournemouth.
Games Wins Draws Losses Yellows Reds
Arsenal’s record with Gillett 9 6 0 3 14 0
Arsenal though have a good record under Gillett. He’s overseen seven Premier League games involving Arsenal and they’ve won seven of those, losing the other two. In all competitions, Arsenal have won six of nine games officiated by Gillett, having never had a red card in any of those games either.
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Leeds United’s record under Jarred Gillett is also strong
Neither Arteta nor Farke will count on a strong refereeing performance from Gillett to get the win. Arsenal will be expecting their quality and home advantage to shine through but Leeds will fancy their chances of an upset, taking momentum into the game in North London after a strong opening day win.
And Leeds may be buoyed by the fact that they’ve never lost a game that Gillett has officiated. In five games under his watch, Leeds have won three and lost two. Memorably, Gillett oversaw Leeds’ 3-3 draw away at Aston Villa in February 2022.
Diego Llorente rescued a point in the second half with Villa’s Ezri Konsa being sent off late on in the game.
For Leeds, their record under Gillett and their early momentum will feed further into the idea of a potential upset at Arsenal next weekend, with plenty of pressure on the Gunners to pick up the win as they vie for the Premier League title.