Referee takes charge of Arsenal match for first time in two seasons

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A Premier League referee has returned from a long spell out, with Wolves vs Arsenal his first Gunners fixture since 2024

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta will be keen not to replicate the reverse fixture (Image credit: Getty Images)

Arsenal’s clash with Wolves tonight will see a long-term absentee referee a Gunners fixture for the first time in two seasons.

The match is being played midweek to ease fixture congestion later in the season, as Arsenal avoided the Champions League play-off round and reached a first League Cup final in eight years.

Although rock-bottom Wolves seem unlikely to upset title-chasing Arsenal, they almost deployed a huge banana skin in December’s reverse fixture, losing 2-1 to Yerson Mosquera’s 94th-minute own goal.

A familiar face in the middle for Arsenal's trip to Wolves

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And two seasons from last overseeing an Arsenal fixture, Paul Tierney has been named as tonight’s referee.

The Wigan native was injured for almost all of the 2024/25 season, only returning to action when Manchester City hosted West Ham in December.

Martin Odegaard complaining to Paul Tierney

Odegaard and Tierney (Image credit: Getty Images)

But Tierney has a history of big decisions regarding Arsenal.

In the 21 matches he has officiated involving the North London club, Arsenal have won ten, drawn five, and lost six.

Amongst those, four red cards were brandished, three of which were shown to Arsenal players, whilst the club earned six of the nine penalties he has awarded in their matches.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw red after a VAR intervention for a high challenge against Crystal Palace in 2020.

Gabriel was sent off for two bookable offences against Southampton later in the year, and two years later, Tierney booked Rob Holding twice within the opening 45 minutes of the North London derby.

A much more leisurely 1-0 victory over Manchester United in 2024 was the last time he took charge of an Arsenal fixture.

It was against Wolves last season when Miles Lewis-Skelly was sent off in controversial circumstances for a challenge on Matt Doherty, only for his three-game ban to be overturned by the FA.

A win would put Arsenal seven points clear at the summit of the Premier League, with Manchester City next playing at the weekend.

Joseph Saunders
Joseph Saunders

Joseph is a current News Associates trainee studying for his NCTJ qualification after graduating from Durham University with a Physics degree. He spends his free time watching any sport he can find on TV and explaining how his degree is applicable to sports journalism to his family. Joseph supports Arsenal and has years of past FourFourTwo magazines storage, but has written on over 20 sports for publications such as The Mirror, LondonWorld, and Yahoo.com.

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