Michael Oliver is back on Premier League duty this weekend, with the referee handed Arsenal’s trip to Nottingham Forest for his first Gunners involvement of the season.
Arsenal visit the City Ground on Sunday, October 18, with kick-off at 4.30pm UK time and the game live on Sky Sports.
Michael Oliver will return to Premier League action this weekend for Arsenal’s trip to Nottingham Forest, his first involvement in a Gunners match this season in any capacity.
For some unexplained reason, Oliver had no Premier League appointment last weekend when the competition resumed after the international break for the first time after Manchester City’s guilty verdict.
He now returns with Arsenal, a club whose matches have featured a number of contentious decisions involving Oliver.
Against City in October 2023, Oliver booked Mateo Kovacic for a red card challenge on Martin Odegaard, then declined to show him a second yellow after another red card challenge on Declan Rice.
Howard Webb subsequently said Kovacic was “an extremely fortunate player to stay on the field of play” and that the second challenge should have brought another booking.
VAR, they said, was unable to intervene because it concerned a potential second yellow rather than a straight red, even though it should have been a straight red.
Oliver was again at the centre of controversy when Wolves faced Arsenal in January 2025.
He sent off Myles Lewis-Skelly for serious foul play, but an independent FA commission unanimously upheld Arsenal’s wrongful-dismissal claim in record quick time.
After that red card, Arsenal were fined three times the normal amount for their protests.
The commission’s written reasons found that Oliver “had made an obvious error” and that Lewis-Skelly had neither endangered his opponent’s safety nor used excessive force.
The suspension was withdrawn, but the fine stood.
Oliver also incorrectly sent Gabriel Martinelli off after showing two yellow cards in the same passage of play, having played advantage without informing the Arsenal forward that he would be booked for the first offence. That was also against Wolves.
Because the dismissal came after two yellows, Arsenal were unable to appeal.
Let’s also not forget the time he sent Leandro Trossard off against Manchester City for kicking the ball away, or when he booked Lewis-Skelly, at the time a sub, for passing a message to David Raya. Funnily enough, that was also in a game against City.
Oliver’s overseas refereeing work has also attracted scrutiny.
He took charge of Al-Hilal’s 2-0 victory over Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in April 2023, with reporting at the time saying he had PGMOL permission and received around £3,000 plus business-class travel.
Oliver also travelled to referee Sharjah against Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates in September 2023 alongside Darren England, Dan Cook and Stuart Burt. Burt will also be involved in Arsenal’s game this weekend.
The criticism arose from the perception of a conflict of interest, with English referees accepting paid work in a state-backed league in the country associated with City’s ownership.
Reporting also pointed to City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak’s position on the board of the league’s principal sponsor, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
The UAE trip also preceded the incorrect disallowing of Luis Diaz’s goal in Tottenham Hotspur’s victory over Liverpool, when England and Cook were working as VAR and assistant VAR.
Webb later said: “In terms of that specific trip out to the Middle East, there was no link found from that to the error.”
Arsenal arrive in Nottingham having won nine of their 10 matches in all competitions this season, scoring 17 goals, conceding six and keeping four clean sheets.
Forest have won just one of their seven fixtures this season, drawing two and losing four. They have scored five goals while conceding 10.
Oliver will be assisted by Burt and James Mainwaring, with Farai Hallam as fourth official. Hallam will also referee Manchester City’s game on Saturday.
Michael Salisbury will be on VAR, assisted by Ian Hussin. Salisbury was 4th official for Arsenal’s game against Brighton, while Mainwaring was assistant VAR for the same match.
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