Referee decision confirmed for Leeds United vs Bournemouth after recent Wolves controversy
Leeds United welcome Bournemouth to Elland Road on Saturday.
The Premier League have confirmed Michael Oliver will take charge of this weekend’s Elland Road meeting between Leeds United and Bournemouth.
Leeds will be in front of their home crowd for the first time in almost a month on Saturday, having last drawn 0-0 against Newcastle United at the end of August. Daniel Farke’s side have since fallen to a late 1-0 defeat at Fulham before beating Wolves 3-1 last weekend.
All three Leeds goals came inside 14 first-half minutes through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Noah Okafor, essentially rendering Ladislav Krejci’s eighth-minute opener meaningless. Weekend visitors Bournemouth played out a 0-0 draw with Newcastle on Sunday to end a run of three straight victories.
The Premier League have now confirmed their official appointments for the upcoming gameweek, with Oliver assigned to take charge of Saturday’s Elland Road meeting. The experienced referee will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Jarred Gillett as fourth official and Tim Wood in charge of VAR.
Oliver is considered one of England’s top referees, with over 400 games under his belt in a 15-year career including Premier League, Champions League and World Cup action. The Northumbria-based official has taken charge of a fixture in every league gameweek so far this season, blowing for 21.2 fouls and brandishing just 1.8 yellow cards per game on average.
Leeds United vs Bournemouth referee involved in Wolves controversy
While Oliver is still highly regarded in the Premier League, he was recently involved in a controversial incident that has since been adjudged as a significant error. He was in charge of Wolves’ 3-2 defeat at home to Everton last month and waved away strong claims for the losing side to get a penalty when Iliman Ndiaye tripped Hugo Bueno.
VAR assistant Craig Pawson reviewed the incident but opted against sending Oliver to the screen at the time, a decision the Key Match Incidents panel has since confirmed was incorrect. "The contact made is careless and the panel felt a penalty should have been awarded and that VAR should have intervened on the basis it was a clear and obvious error in not penalising the foul," the panel wrote.
The panel’s assessment cantered largely around Pawson’s mistake in not sending Oliver to the screen, with the experienced referee getting straight back in the middle the following weekend to officiate Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Burnley. He most recently took charge of Fulham’s 3-1 win at home to Brentford last weekend.
Leeds will hope to avoid such controversies this weekend as they look to extend their unbeaten start to the season at home. Farke’s men have four points from games against Everton and Newcastle so far, although the visit of Bournemouth will likely be their toughest challenge so far.
Farke could be without Jayden Bogle on Saturday after the right-back limped off with a nasty-looking foot injury at Molineux to be replaced by James Justin. There are also doubts surrounding Dan James, Willy Gnonto and Lucas Perri, all of whom missed last weekend’s comeback win at Wolves.