EFL make official Leeds United vs Derby County decision ahead of Elland Road clash
Leeds United welcome Derby County to Elland Road on Saturday.
The officiating team for Saturday’s Championship clash between Leeds United and Derby County has been confirmed, with Matt Donohue set to take charge.
Leeds dropped out of the automatic promotion places last weekend following their 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, with Todd Cantwell’s first-half penalty proving decisive. Sheffield United and Burnley both picked up three points and so Daniel Farke’s side will kick off on Saturday in third.
This season’s previous 1-0 defeats to Burnley and Millwall were followed by dominant 2-0 wins for Leeds, against Cardiff and Queens Park Rangers respectively. And Farke’s men will be desperate to show their resilience once again, with out-of-form Derby winless in four.
And it has now been confirmed that Donohue will take charge of the clash, with Paul Hodskinson and Shaun Hudson his assistants while Scott Tallis will be the fourth official. The Manchester FA referee has been a Championship regular this season, taking charge of 10 games in total.
In those games, Donohue has blown up for an average of 23.8 fouls per game, with 4.6 yellow cards brandished every 90 minutes. Both of those averages are towards the lower end of second-tier officials, suggesting Saturday’s man in the middle has a tendency to let things go.
But it was the decision to not give a foul that frustrated Leeds fans during their last game with Donohue in charge, that 2-0 win over QPR last month. There were huge calls for a Whites penalty when Mateo Joseph’s shot appeared to hit Steve Cook on the arm, but those claims were quickly waved away.
On reflection, Leeds could have felt aggrieved to have not been awarded the spot-kick. And while it turned out not to matter too much, Donohue’s mistake was pointed out by former Premier League referee Keith Hackett.
“The player has raised his arm and knows exactly what he’s doing,” Hackett told MOT Leeds News of the missed incident. “He’s made his body shape bigger and should have been penalised in this instance.”
Leeds will hope to be on the right end of any major decisions this weekend, having potentially been unfortunate at Ewood Park on Saturday. Blackburn forward Tyrhys Dolan was booked for a lunge on Junior Firpo but replays showed his boot to have connected with the left-back’s knee.
Referee Lewis Smith had a perfect view of the incident but only brandished a yellow card, with another former referee Dermot Gallagher insisting Dolan could have little to complain about, were he shown a straight red. That incident occurred with around half an hour left and it remains to be seen whether John Eustace’s side would have held on with a man less.
Leeds will hope for no such controversy this weekend and could find themselves back in the automatic promotion places if they win. The two above them both have difficult fixtures, with Burnley hosting Middlesbrough on Friday night while Sheffield United are due at West Brom on Sunday.