Arsenal are reportedly unhappy with the Premier League after assigning Jarred Gillett as the VAR referee for their match at Newcastle on Saturday.
Gillett’s last involvement in a Gunners’ game saw him recommend to Rob Jones to check the pitchside VAR monitor for William Saliba to be potentially dismissed at Bournemouth, before the initial decision of a yellow was overturned which played a part in Arsenal’s sole defeat this season.
Gillett has already been involved in three out of nine Arsenal league games this season, including being the man in the middle for their victories over Wolves and Tottenham.
During the season opener against Wolves, which ended in a 2-0 victory for Arsenal, controversy arose when Yerson Mosquera appeared to grab Kai Havertz around the neck, but no action was taken by Gillett.
According to Mirror Football, Arsenal are happy that Gillett has been appointed to another of their games following several of his recent decisions not going their way.
Last season, Arteta was notably frustrated with Gillett during Arsenal’s loss at Aston Villa. Gillett disallowed a late equaliser from Havertz due to handball – a decision supported by VAR – and did not award a penalty for Douglas Luiz’s tackle on Gabriel Jesus.
Arteta, who served a touchline suspension during the game at Villa Park, restrained himself post-match and only stated he had “a big opinion” on the refereeing decisions, which were “clear and obvious to me”.
During Arsenal’s last trip to face Newcastle, Arteta was left livid and labelled some of the decisions as a “disgrace.”
The Gunners fell to a 1-0 defeat after Anthony Gordons’s passed three VAR checks.
Stuart Attwell, the referee from that match, will not be in involved in the upcoming encounter at St James’ Park. After last season’s game, Arteta went on a furious rant in some post-match press conferences and was later charged by the FA – before he was later cleared.
Arsenal, who were recently held to a draw by Liverpool, finds themselves five points adrift from Manchester City, and Arteta has stressed the importance of not letting that lead increase.
Discipline within the team has been scrutinised this season, as they’ve received three red cards so far, leading to dropped points each time. Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, and Saliba have all seen red since the start of the term.
