Michael Salisbury will referee an Arsenal game for the first time this weekend, officiating the Gunners’ visit to AFC Bournemouth.

The Premier League have confirmed their match official appointments for the weekend’s fixtures, including Arsenal’s away game against Bournemouth on Saturday, September 30th at 15:00 BST.

Michael Salisbury will referee the game, with Constantine Hatzidakis and James Mainwaring as assistants.

Arsenal fans may recall the controversy involving Hatzidakis at half-time of the Liverpool match at Anfield last season, where he was involved in an altercation with Andy Robertson.

Sam Allison will act as the fourth official, with David Coote on VAR, assisted by Nick Greenhalgh.

For those struggling to recall the last time Salisbury refereed an Arsenal game, that’s because it’s never happened before.

Though the referee has officiated 20 Premier League matches and a number of cup games over the last three seasons, none of them have involved Arsenal until now.

Salisbury has been stepping up to the Premier League more regularly over the last year or so, after primarily operating in the Championship and below before 2022/23.

On the other side, Salisbury has refereed Bournemouth five times since the start of 2022/23, with Bournemouth winning two matches in normal time, one on penalties, and losing the other two.