West Ham United are unlikely to be too pleased as the Premier League announced the match officials for their game against Bournemouth.
Nuno Espirito Santo will want to continue the winning momentum after West Ham beat Burnley 3-2 at the London Stadium ahead of the international break.
However, for the game at the Vitality Stadium, he will be without one of his top scorers in Lucas Paqueta, as the Brazil international got a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign.
Michael Oliver on VAR duty for Bournemouth vs West Ham United
Despite it being in place for a number of seasons, VAR appears to be something that divides fans.
Even though referees have additional technology at their disposal, they appear to make amateur decisions every now and then.
That’s precisely why, now more than ever, fans are curious as to who the match officials are for their side’s Premier League fixtures.
For West Ham’s trip to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, Michael Oliver will be the VAR, while Tom Bramall will be the match referee.
Constantine Hatzidakis and Mat Wilkes will be the linesmen, while James Mainwaring is to serve as the assistant VAR.
Richard Keys highlights ‘terrible’ incident from 2024/25
Oliver is far from the most popular referee among fans of Premier League clubs.
His decisions have been heavily scrutinised for a number of years and Richard Keys used his performance in the game between West Ham and Manchester United from last season as a reference point.
He handed the Hammers a penalty, which clearly wasn’t one, as they picked up a 2-1 win over the Red Devils.
Keys wrote in his blog: “How much longer can Michael Oliver be allowed to arrogantly strut around making one big error after another? He’s having a terrible season.
“First, there was the pen at West Ham that wasn’t. Remember him telling the match ref David Coote (from the bunker) to change his mind and give West Ham a pen in the dying minutes v United? Wrong call.”
While that decision went in the Irons’ favour, there have been instances where he’s made baffling calls against them.
The Hammers fans will be hoping that he does not mess up any of the major VAR calls as the outcome of the contest may ride on those.
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