His name still strikes terror into the hearts of Arsenal fans everywhere.

Tack on the words ‘at Old Trafford’ to ‘Mike Dean in charge’ and you suddenly find yourself breaking out in a cold sweat.

The fact of the matter is that Dean has been relatively decent for Arsenal this season, taking charge of four Arsenal matches and managing to be competent in most of them.

In fact, the referee who held a curse over Arsenal for so long seems to have sorted himself out, at least a little. We’ve only lost one match under him this season, the reverse fixture in November when he failed to give even a freekick for the ‘tackle‘ by Paddy McNair on Jack Wilshere which left the midfielder needing two operations and the guts of six months out of the game.

He’s also refereed four United games and their only win? Yep, the game at the Emirates. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad omen.

His last game in charge of Arsenal was the 1-0 win at Burnley when their fans resorted to singing ‘same old Arsenal, always cheating’ as they kicked their way through the Arsenal side with impunity. Dean also refused to book at least three players for blatant pulls, though that didn’t stopsarcastic cheers from their fans when they got a free kick. He was also in charge when we won at City so there’s that.

Of course, Dean and Old Trafford are a match made in hell. Will we see him show Michael Oliver’s strength as they resort to their diving antics or will he buy them like he has so often in the past, waving away stonewall penalties in Arsenal’s favour?

A pernickety referee who prides himself on spotting infractions no-one even knew were fouls, he can miss some massive calls as he struts around the pitch demanding people respect his authoritaaay in a manner Cartman would be proud of.

What we’ve come to expect from Dean is not been what he has delivered this season, thankfully, but so deep are the scars he inflicted in the past that we know a ridiculous performance that changes the game is never far from him.

It’s hard to win at Old Trafford, and Mike Dean rarely ever makes it easier. Or just fair.

Saint Michael of Oliver will be the fourth official.