Leeds United return to Premier League action at Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Premier League have confirmed their latest round of referee appointments with Michael Oliver to take charge of Aston Villa vs Leeds United.
Leeds head to Villa Park for another massive Premier League game on Saturday, having booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round last weekend. The Whites beat Birmingham City on penalties after a 1-1 draw and can now return focus to their survival bid before next month’s meeting with Norwich City.
Villa suffered defeat against Newcastle United in their FA Cup fourth round tie, with the all-Premier League clash shrouded in controversy. VAR was not in use across the competition and referee Chris Kavanagh has been dropped from top-flight action after his performance.
Kavanagh rightly sent Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot off but failed to dismiss Lucas Digne for a shin-high challenge on Jacob Murphy. He then inexplicably awarded Newcastle a free-kick despite Digne committing a clear handball at least three yards in his own box - a decision Wayne Rooney labelled an ‘absolute shocker’ and one of the worst he’s ever seen.
VAR will be back in operation at Villa Park this weekend and the Premier League have confirmed their decision to put experienced referee Michael Oliver in charge. He will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Andrew Kitchen as fourth official and Tony Harrington in charge of VAR duties.
Oliver is among the Premier League's most trusted officials and has regularly been assigned to take charge of Champions League matches this season. Domestically, he has awarded 22.15 fouls and brandished 2.65 yellow cards per game on average - which is about middling on both accounts compared to his colleagues.
Leeds United record this season with Michael Oliver as referee
Leeds have had Oliver in charge of their game twice this season, winning neither. The Whites lost 3-0 at Brighton with Saturday’s referee and earlier in the season, Farke was very frustrated with a game-changing decision during his side’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth.
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The Whites looked set to claim a huge three points with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth before Eli Junior Kroupi’s added-time equaliser, which came after a Cherries free-kick was pumped into the box. The foul was given against Anton Stach for a push and Farke believed it was very soft.
"I think we would have deserved to not have the free-kick given, probably the softest free-kick given this weekend," Farke said at the time. "It's not a foul for me at Premier League level. We probably would have won without this free-kick conceded.”
Farke and Leeds will be keen to avenge their defeat at home to Aston Villa in the reverse fixture with the chance to reach the lofty heights of 13th if they take three points and results elsewhere go their way. Winning will not be easy, however, with Unai Emery's side third and well in the mix for Champions League qualification.
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