Premier League make official Chelsea vs Newcastle decision after ‘pure garbage’ claim

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The referee has been confirmed for Newcastle United’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday.

The Magpies will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Brighton when they travel to the capital this weekend, as Newcastle United prepare to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

It will be a very difficult fixture for Eddie Howe‘s side, made all the more interesting by the fact that Newcastle will then take on the Blues at St James’ Park just three days later in the Carabao Cup.

Referee appointed for Chelsea vs Newcastle

Peter Bankes refereed Newcastle’s defeat to Brighton on Saturday. While some minor decisions went Brighton’s way rather than Newcastle’s, the 90 minutes passed without any major incidents for the referee to deal with.

Simon Hooper will hope for the same on Sunday, as he prepares to take charge of Chelsea vs Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.

He has been appointed as referee, with Adrian Holmes and Simon Long named as assistants. The fourth official is Rob Jones, while Jarred Gillett is on VAR duty.

It is the first time that Hooper is refereeing Newcastle this season. His last Toon game was the final fixture of last season, which saw Eddie Howe’s side beat Brentford 4-2 at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Simon Hooper was recently criticised

The game at Stamford Bridge will be Hooper’s fifth Premier League game of the season.

His last appearance came on October 5th, when he oversaw Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

There was a moment of controversy in that game, with Hooper opting against giving Crystal Palace a penalty following an incident between Newcastle target Marc Guehi and Virgil van Dijk.

The Crystal Palace captain was pulled down in the box by Van Dijk as the Eagles searched for an equaliser, but the protests were waved away by Hooper. There was no intervention from VAR, with the decision described as ‘pure garbage’ by former referee Keith Hackett in his column for the Telegraph.

There will hopefully be no controversy between Newcastle and Chelsea, as Eddie Howe faces Enzo Maresca for the first time in his managerial career.