Arsenal’s upcoming Premier League fixture away at Sunderland will be officiated by referee John Brooks this Saturday at the Stadium of Light.
The match kicks off at 20:00 BST on Saturday, September 12th, with the Premier League having officially confirmed the full team of officials for the fixture.
Brooks will be assisted by linesmen James Mainwaring and Wade Smith, while Elliot Bell has been named as the fourth official for the contest.
Stuart Attwell takes on VAR responsibilities for the match, with Edward Smart serving as assistant VAR to complete the officiating panel.
Brooks has refereed Arsenal on eight previous occasions, all of which came across the three seasons leading into the current campaign.
The Gunners endured a difficult start under his watch, losing three of their first four matches, but have since recovered to record four wins from eight games overall.
The sole draw in that run came last season in Arsenal’s away fixture at Brentford back in February, rounding out a mixed overall record.
Brooks has never awarded a penalty or issued a red card against Arsenal in any of his eight games involving the club, which is worth noting in context of their poorer results.
Elsewhere in officiating news, James Bell will not feature on VAR duty this weekend following his costly error during Arsenal’s recent Premier League match against Aston Villa.
The Premier League’s KMI panel unanimously agreed that Bell should have recommended a review to award Arsenal a penalty against Villa, ruling his failure to intervene was a significant mistake.
The same panel also determined that referee Jarred Gillett should have awarded the penalty and dismissed Ian Maatsen for a second yellow card following a review.
Despite those findings, Gillett has still been assigned as referee for the Bournemouth versus Brentford fixture this weekend, suggesting the panel viewed his real-time error as more forgivable.
Bell’s omission from VAR duties this weekend signals that the Premier League took a dim view of the failure to correct the incident using the replay technology available.
The decision to remove Bell from this round of fixtures reflects growing scrutiny on VAR officials, who are expected to catch errors that match officials may understandably miss at full speed.
Arsenal supporters will be hoping the officiating team for the Sunderland fixture avoids similar controversy as the Gunners look to build momentum during the early weeks of the season.
