Referee confirmed for Newcastle United vs West Ham, he was involved in Magpies VAR controversy

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Newcastle United will resume their Premier League campaign on Monday evening against West Ham United.

Eddie Howe will hope his side can kick off from where they left off before the November international break.

Newcastle United had 10 players away on international duty over the past two weeks and most of the squad have – so far – got through the break unscathed.

Before the break, Newcastle won three consecutive games across all competitions including a 3-1 victory against high-flying Nottingham Forest.

Now just one point away from third place in the Premier League table, Newcastle can continue to climb the rankings with three points at St James’ Park on Monday.

Craig Pawson confirmed as referee for Newcastle vs West Ham

Ahead of matchweek 12, the Premier League have confirmed that Craig Pawson will take charge of Newcastle’s clash. Chris Kavanagh is on VAR duties.

Pawson has taken charge of 10 matches across all competitions this season, including six in the Premier League. In those six games, he has dished out a staggering 27 yellow cards.

Fabian Schar is on the brink of a ban at Newcastle and will have to tread carefully to not add to the defensive crisis Howe is currently dealing with.

Pawson has overseen two Newcastle games so far starting with the season-opener against Southampton where the Magpies won 1-0 despite Fabian Schar being sent off.

He also refereed the goalless draw against Everton and was surrounded by controversy.

Craig Pawson involved in Dan Burn VAR controversy

During the goalless draw against Everton in October, Pawson was involved in two penalty calls.

Anthony Gordon missed a penalty against Everton after VAR overturned Pawson’s initial decision to allow play to continue.

Pawson was then involved in more drama when Dan Burn collided with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box. He once again waved away the penalty claims and the game ended goalless.

The Premier League released VAR audio from the Burn incident explaining why they chose not to award a penalty to Everton.

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The following week, Pawson was dropped from all Premier League games with his next match coming 20 days later.

It is fair to say, whenever Pawson referees a Newcastle game there is drama – the same can be expected on Monday evening.