Martin Atkinson will take charge of his fourth Arsenal game of the season this weekend when he turns up at the Emirates on Sunday for the match against Crystal Palace.

In what will be only Arsenal’s 10th league game of the season, Martin Atkinson will be handed the whistle for the fourth time meaning that for a full 40% of games he will have been in charge. Forty percent is a number he likes because that’s how many key decisions he’s got right this season in all games.

In total, Atkinson has refereed eight games this season before this weekend’s match.

Yes, the man from Bradford – because you aren’t allowed to be a PGMOL official if you’re from the south, apparently – is currently the worst referee in the league. Quite the honour when you consider the company he keeps.

I went looking for a tweet I published a few days ago detailing how few refs we’ve had this season and found a selection of Atkinson tweets I’ve sent throughout the years.

First, the tweet I was looking for:

Now, the others. There is, as you can see, a theme…

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

According to the app, URef, Atkinson has moved up to 11th from 12th place this season after last weekend but his key accuracy rate remains at 40%.

He is, as you can see from the details below, a ref to have if you’re the away team: In the three Arsenal games he’s refereed this season (Newcastle A, Spurs H, Bournemouth H) he has issued a total of 15 yellow cards, well above his 3.49 career average.

Seven have gone to Arsenal players and eight to opposition which is surprising considering Arsenal get yellow cards easier than any other side in the division

It will be his first Crystal Palace game of the season.