Newcastle United dealt bad hand in upcoming Arsenal contest

LEEDS, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United speaks to Referee Chris Kavanagh during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Newcastle United at Elland Road on January 22, 2022 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
LEEDS, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United speaks to Referee Chris Kavanagh during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Newcastle United at Elland Road on January 22, 2022 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) /
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Newcastle United and Arsenal are preparing to go up against one another in one of the most exciting contests in the Premier League this season. As it currently stands, Newcastle sits third in the league, while Arsenal sits at the top in first.

As of May 3rd, the Premier League has finally confirmed what officials will be running the match between the two sides at St. James Park.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 03: Ben White of Arsenal clashes with Joseph Willock of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on January 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 03: Ben White of Arsenal clashes with Joseph Willock of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on January 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

These two teams are gearing up to go toe-to-toe at 4:30 p.m. GMT as they look for a momentum builder down the stretch of the season.

The Premier League has assigned Chris Kavanagh, Richard West, Nick Greenhalgh and Anthony Taylor. Kavanagh will be the lead referee, West and Greenhalgh will be the assistants and Taylor will be the fourth official.

Those assigned to VAR are Andy Madley and Scott Ledger. Ledger will be the assistant to Madley.

The issue though lies with Kavanagh, who has been on the wrong side of calls that went against Newcastle United throughout the season.

His most notable, and recent, came when Newcastle took on Brentford.

The call, which sent shockwaves through the social media space, sent Brentford to the penalty kick line where they scored their only goal of the game. Kavanagh awarded a penalty for a high boot from Alexander Isak on Rico Henry. Even with a VAR review, the call was still made, giving Brentford their only goal of the contest.

Ultimately, even with the bad call, Newcastle United was able to pull off a victory, 2-1 with forward Isak and a Brentford player, each scoring a goal for the Magpies.

Newcastle United’s Swedish striker Alexander Isak (C) shoots but fails to score during the English Premier League football match between Brentford and Newcastle United at Gtech Community Stadium in London on April 8, 2023. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle United’s Swedish striker Alexander Isak (C) shoots but fails to score during the English Premier League football match between Brentford and Newcastle United at Gtech Community Stadium in London on April 8, 2023. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images) /

Just a few games later against Everton, Kavanagh was the assistant VAR where he helped deem that a challenge against Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff was not worthy of being called a penalty.

So, with plenty of controversial calls, it will be interesting to see if anything detrimental impacts the Arsenal and Newcastle United game this coming weekend.

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