After yet another red card for Arsenal, I thought I’d take a closer look at the referees and VAR officials Arsenal have had this season in the Premier League.
Rather than looking at all the officials, I limited this to just the referee and main VAR official as we all know those are the two that run the show.
In total, there are 24 Premier League refs in play this season and Arsenal have seen 12 of them take charge of their games, although Michael Oliver has been handed five matches, twice as many as the next refs on the list with two: Stuart Attwell, Mike Dean, Martin Atkinson, Anthony Taylor, and Craig Pawson.
Seven have refereed one game: Jarred Gillett, Andre Marriner, Paul Tierney, Jon Moss, Kevin Friend, David Coote and Graham Scott.
Arsenal and VAR
In charge of VAR, Michael Oliver is second on Arsenal’s list, with three appearances, but Chris Kavanagh leads the way with five.
Combined, that means Oliver has been referee or VAR for Arsenal this season in 36.4% of their matches.
Jarred Gillett, the VAR official most Arsenal fans know and loathe, has been in charge of messing up watching the TV three times.
Stuart Attwell, Darren England, and Peter Bankes have done it twice.
Mike Dean, Andre Marriner, Lee Mason, and Dean Whitestone have been on VAR once.
John Brooks, Tony Harrington, Simon Hooper, Robert Jones, Andy Madley, and Michael Salisbury have played no role as either referee or VAR for an Arsenal game in the Premier League so far this season.
Arsenal referees and VAR this season
| Premier League | Referee | VAR | Total | |
| 1 | Michael Oliver | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Chris Kavanagh | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Stuart Attwell | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Jarred Gillett | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Mike Dean | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Martin Atkinson | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Anthony Taylor | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Craig Pawson | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Andre Marriner | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Darren England | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Peter Bankes | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Lee Mason | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Paul Tierney | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Jon Moss | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Kevin Friend | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Graham Scott | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Dean Whitestone | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | John Brooks | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | David Coote | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Tony Harrington | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Simon Hooper | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Robert Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Andy Madley | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Michael Salisbury | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| total | 21 | 22 | 43 |
Which football team does Michael Oliver support?
Michael Oliver hails from Ashinton in Northumberland.
Oliver is believed to be a Newcastle United fan.