Rice red card ref in charge for Bournemouth-Arsenal clash

The Premier League have confirmed the match officials for the upcoming round of fixtures, including Arsenal’s match away to Bournemouth.

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The Premier League have posted on their official website to confirm the match official appointments for this weekend’s games, which includes Arsenal’s trip away to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Chris Kavanagh is set to referee the match at the Vitality Stadium, with Dan Cook and Ian Hussin acting as his assistants. The fourth official will be Lewis Smith.

Then Paul Tierney will be on VAR, with Marc Perry as the assistant VAR for the match.

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Kavanagh referees Arsenal relatively frequently, already having reffed two games involving the Gunners during the current Premier League campaign.

The two previous results were mixed, with Arsenal losing to Liverpool with Kavanagh refereeing, but then beating Burnley. In fairness, the two games didn’t particularly hinge on the officiating, with no penalties or red cards, and only a couple of bookings for each team.

There was more controversy involving the referee and Arsenal last season, when he dismissed Declan Rice against Brighton for “delaying the restart”, a rule that has been all but forgotten this season.

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Over his career, Kavanagh has refereed 26 Arsenal games, with the Gunners winning 13, drawing seven, and losing six.