Wolves face the monstrous task of battling Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday evening, with the Premier League now revealing who will officiate the match.
Wolves will look to pull off the remarkable and do the double over Manchester City on Saturday evening, as the Old Gold head to the Etihad Stadium with the power to affect the title race.
Gary O’Neil’s side know what it takes to get the better of Pep Guardiola’s treble winners, having beat the Cityzens at Molineux back in September.
There is a lot on the line for the hosts on Saturday, with the title race still a two-horse race between City and Arsenal, with no room for error remaining, making Wolves’ task even greater.
Still, the Old Gold have the potential to cause an upset in Manchester to build on their win against Luton Town last week, with anything possible in the Premier League.
Speaking of anything being possible in the English top flight, O’Neil will hope for his side not to become part of another refereeing controversy, with the officials appointed to oversee the fixture now revealed.
Craig Pawson appointed as referee for Wolves clash with Manchester City
Today, the Premier League announced the list of match officials for game week 36, with Craig Pawson named as the figure to referee Wolves’ trip to the Etihad.
Pawson has overseen four of the Old Gold’s fixtures this season, where O’Neil’s side have won twice and drawn twice, encouraging reading for the superstitious.
While Wolves’ record with Pawson in charge isn’t terrible, the official was at the heart of a VAR controversy last week, as he disallowed Chelsea’s last-minute winner against Aston Villa on Saturday night.
After being called to the monitor by VAR, Pawson deemed Diego Carlos to have been fouled in the build-up to the injury-time goal, ruling out Axel Disasi’s header to cause a frenzy in the Chelsea camp.
On the subject of VAR, Wolves will feel slightly unnerved to hear that Stuart Attwell will take charge of the fixture on VAR, another figure who has been fiercely criticised in the past few weeks.
Attwell disallowed Hwang Hee-chan’s goal against Bournemouth at Molineux last week, seeing O’Neil choose not to criticise the 41-year-old, who had received astonishing critique from Nottingham Forest the week prior.
Gary O’Neil will be desperate to avoid VAR controversy in Wolves’ clash with Manchester City
One of the most unbelievable moments of this season came off the pitch, as Forest’s social media team posted a bizarre statement insinuating that Attwell was a Luton Town supporter, after being denied three penalties against the Hatters.
While O’Neil sympathised with Attwell for the backlash he received from that fixture, the Wolves manager will be hopeful of no further controversy unfolding on Saturday, in what has been a shocking season for the Old Gold when it comes to VAR calls.
READ MORE: How Wolves’ season would be different without VAR in the Premier League
Before worrying about controversy from the officials, Wolves will be concerned about the threat that Manchester City will bring, in what is poised to be a significant fixture in the battle for the Premier League title.