Premier League confirm official Leeds United v Everton decision as experienced referee appointed
Leeds United kick off their 2025/26 Premier League campaign at home to Everton on Monday.
The Premier League have confirmed their referee appointments for the upcoming round of fixtures with Chris Kavanagh to take charge of Leeds United vs Everton.
Elland Road will play host to the last of this weekend’s 10 Premier League fixtures, with Leeds welcoming Everton to LS11 on Monday evening. The clash has been picked by Sky Sports for their first edition of Monday Night Football as Daniel Farke’s side return to the top-flight following a two-year spell in the Championship.
A high-profile opening fixture will see two of the north’s best-supported clubs go head-to-head and in anticipation of a tight affair, the Premier League have appointed experienced referee Kavanagh. Regarded as one of the country’s best officials, Kavanagh will be sharp having taken charge of last weekend’s Community Shield meeting between Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
The well-respected official was a regular at Premier League matches last season, taking charge of 25 top-flight fixtures in total while also refereeing a handful of Europa League and Champions League matches. Kavanagh was in the middle for a number of high-profile meetings including Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City vs Liverpool.
In those 25 Premier League games, Kavanagh blew for 21.4 fouls per game and brandished an average of 4.4 yellow cards, making him one of the top-flight's more strict officials. The referee also sent someone off on five occasions, second only to Antony Taylor’s tally of six.
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Assisting Kavanagh will be Dan Cook and Lee Betts, while Andrew Kitchen will be between both dugouts as fourth official. And in a change to the previous two campaigns, John Brooks will be the man to take control of VAR on the night, with the technology back in use at Elland Road after two years without it in the Championship.
VAR back in use at Elland Road for Leeds United vs Everton
Leeds were on either side of some controversial decisions during their two-year Championship spell but the overwhelming feeling surrounding no VAR was positive, with games allowed to flow more. Regular debate around refereeing decisions in the Premier League since suggests the technology will not keep controversy at bay for the upcoming campaign.
Whites boss Farke will speak to the media later this week in what will be his first pre-game press conference of the season as anticipation builds. Updates are expected on the likes of Jayden Bogle and Sebastiaan Bornauw, who have both missed chunks of pre-season due to injury.
Farke said in the aftermath of last weekend’s 1-1 draw against AC Milan in Dublin that both should be back in full team training this week, with hope Bogle can re-claim his place in the starting line-up. Whoever played at right-back could end up facing Jack Grealish, whose season-long loan switch to Everton is expected to be confirmed imminently.
Leeds will certainly be without centre-back Jaka Bijol on Monday, with a red card suspension from his 2024/25 final-day appearance for Udinese carrying over to the Premier League. Farke has started Championship title-winning pair Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk in recent pre-season games and is likely to stick with that partnership.