David Moyes will be fuming as significant announcement made for Arsenal vs Everton

David Moyes will be fuming as significant announcement made for Arsenal vs Everton

David Moyes is unlikely to be pleased with the Premier League’s latest announcement regarding Everton’s upcoming match against Arsenal.

The Toffees are preparing for a challenging trip to the Emirates Stadium on 14 March, where they will hope to keep their hopes of qualifying for European football alive.

Everton know the task ahead will be far from easy. Arsenal are currently sitting at the top of the Premier League table and have been in outstanding form throughout the season.

Despite the difficulty of the fixture, Everton cannot afford to drop too many points, especially with several challenging games coming up in their next six matches.

If the Merseyside club wants to remain in contention for a European place, they must find a way to collect points even against strong opponents.

However, Moyes may now be even more concerned about the match following the Premier League’s announcement regarding the officials for the weekend’s fixtures. Andy Madley has been appointed as the referee for the clash between Arsenal and Everton.

He will be assisted by Simon Long and Craig Taylor as the linesmen, while John Busby will serve as the fourth official. Meanwhile, Stuart Atwell will be responsible for VAR duties at Stockley Park, assisted by Constantine Hatzidakis.

Madley’s appointment could worry Moyes due to a controversial incident involving Everton last season. During a match between Everton and Manchester United, the referee initially awarded the Toffees a late penalty.

Ashley Young went down inside the box following a shirt-pulling challenge from Matthijs de Ligt, prompting Madley to point to the penalty spot. Many observers believed the decision was justified, as the shirt pull appeared significant enough to be considered a foul.

However, after consulting with VAR, Madley overturned his original decision and cancelled the penalty, which caused frustration among Everton players and staff.

Moyes later expressed his disappointment about the decision, explaining that from his perspective the shirt pull should have been enough to justify awarding the penalty. He argued that such actions should not be allowed without punishment.

Adding to Everton’s concerns is the presence of Stuart Atwell as the VAR official for the Arsenal fixture. Atwell has also been involved in a controversial decision affecting Everton earlier this season.

In October, during a match against Tottenham Hotspur, the Toffees believed they had scored an equalising goal through Jake O’Brien while trailing by a single goal.

However, Atwell intervened and advised referee Craig Pawson to review the goal on the VAR monitor.

The review focused on whether Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish had interfered with Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from an offside position. After reviewing the footage, the goal was ruled out.

Many observers felt that the Everton players were not obstructing Vicario in a way that would have affected his ability to make a save.

Former referee Keith Hackett also commented on the incident at the time, suggesting that Atwell should not have intervened in the decision.

With Everton already facing a difficult challenge against a high-flying Arsenal side, Moyes will undoubtedly hope that the match is decided by the players on the pitch rather than by controversial refereeing decisions or VAR interventions.