Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City will have plenty of focus, both on the performances of the teams as well as the match officials.
Anthony Taylor will be the referee in the match, whilst Jarred Gillet will be on video assistant referee (VAR) duty.
These selections are likely to anger Mikel Arteta given some controversial decisions given by both against Arsenal in recent years, and the Gunners will hope that such a vital game is not marred by any officiating errors.
Gillet on VAR is perhaps more of a concern than Taylor refereeing, and there have been five major incidents with the admitted Liverpool fan on VAR in the past which have caused anger amongst Arsenal and their fans.
Jared Gillet denied Martin Odegaard a penalty against Manchester City
In the 2021-22 season Arsenal delivered one of their best performances against Manchester City, and went 1-0 up, but several controversial refereeing decisions helped the visitors come back to win 2-1 against 10 men in the last minute.
One poor decision came early on, as Man City goalkeeper Ederson brought Martin Odegaard down in the box, but a penalty was inexplicably not given by referee Stuart Attwell, or overturned by Gillet on VAR.
This became even worse when considering what happened later in the very same game…
Jarred Gillet allowed Bernardo Silva to win a contentious penalty in Man City win at Arsenal
In the same game where Odegaard was denied what looked like a clear penalty, Bernardo Silva went down in the box after the slightest of touches from Granit Xhaka, and Attwell awarded the penalty.
Fans were furious that the decision was allowed to stand, with the lack of consistency from the earlier call particularly frustrating, and Gillet was criticised for his decision to allow both to stand.
Takehiro Tomiyasu’s bizarre red card against Crystal Palace
In the second game of this season, defender Takehiro Tomiyasu received a bizarre red card as he was awarded a second yellow card for a soft foul on Jordan Ayew
It was a decision which caused controversy, given that Tomiyasu was given a soft yellow card for timewasting earlier in the game, when simply taking a throw-in.
Gillet was on VAR but as per the rules, could not overturn the decision, which sparked calls for VAR to change to be able to overturn such obviously wrong calls.
Sokratis had goal vs Crystal Palace wrongly disallowed
Arsenal’s disastrous 2019-20 campaign under Unai Emery saw them draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace, with Granit Xhaka stripped of the captain’s armband after arguing with fans as he was substituted.
This game was a nightmare for several reasons, as Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead, but they thought they had won it late on when defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos fired the ball in late on after a corner.
However, Gillet on VAR ruled out the goal, claiming Calum Chambers had fouled a Palace player, but the defender was actually on the receiving end of a tackle, in what was arguably the worst decision of them all.
Jonny Evans escaped a red card in Arsenal win at Leicester
In October 2021, Arsenal recorded an impressive 2-0 victory away at Leicester City, with goals from Gabriel Magalhaes and Emile Smith Rowe sending Arsenal into the lead.
This could have been more, as defender Jonny Evans should have seen red. The centre-back fouled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the last man, but only received a yellow card.
Gillet on VAR could have overturned the decision to award a red, but caused frustration when he let the on-field decision stand.