Michael Oliver has been appointed as the referee for Arsenal’s Premier League game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The news was revealed earlier today that Oliver would be officiating the London derby, with Arsenal hoping to put their last big away game behind them with a much better performance at Stamford Bridge.
Oliver is widely considered one of the best in the Premier League. However, the Gunners don’t have a particularly good record under him.
Of course, this will be largely because as one of the best referees in the league, he’s assigned to the biggest games, and Arsenal have been rubbish in the big games recently. But the win percentage with Michael Oliver in charge is still surprisingly low, at 21%.
Arsenal's win % with Michael Oliver officiating is 21% – the lowest of any official for our games in PL history (Min 15 games).
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) September 12, 2017
Still, although it seems like a bad omen, Arsenal fans should remember that the Gunners beat Manchester United at Old Trafford with Oliver officiating, who sent off Angel Di Maria in front of a crowd of angry United fans. He tends to be willing to make the big calls, and often he gets them right, I feel.
Arsenal have more to worry about than who is refereeing the match on Sunday, as we saw at Anfield against Liverpool. The most important thing is to put in a good committed performance. After that, all you can do is hope that the match official puts in a good performance too.