Revealed: Why referee Michael Oliver will only be on VAR duty in the Premier League this weekend… after coming under fire for missing Declan Rice’s kick on Ben Davies in the North London Derby

Referee Michael Oliver will be on VAR duty for this weekend’s round of Premier League games after being involved in controversy in the North London Derby. 

Oliver – one of the league’s most high profile referees who has taken charge of 22 matches this season – is set to be in place at Stockley Park for Brighton‘s clash against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

The Premier League confirmed the refereeing line-up for the game, with Robert Jones named as the man in the middle and Ian Hussin and Wade Smith as his assistants. 

Stuart Atwell – who was involved in his own VAR incident after Nottingham Forest accused him of being a Luton fan following a series of contentious moments in their 2-0 defeat to Everton – will be the fourth official. 

Assisting Oliver on VAR will be Dan Cook, who was infamously dropped after making a high-profile error to disallow Liverpool‘s opening goal during their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham earlier this season.

Michael Oliver will only be on VAR duty in the Premier League this weekend – after coming under fire during the North London Derby

Oliver missed a clear kick from Declan Rice on Ben Davies – and overturned his on field decision after consulting the monitor

Oliver came under fire this weekend after he missed a clear kick from Declan Rice on Ben Davies in the penalty area, at first waving to play on before being urged to consult the monitor by his VAR officials. 

It was a very brief VAR check as Oliver quickly realised he had made an error before pointing to the spot.

Son Heung-min converted the resulting penalty but Spurs left it too late to rescue a result as they fell to a 3-2 defeat against their bitter rivals. 

After the latest refereeing appointments were made, some noticed that Oliver had not been installed as one of the main referees for any of the upcoming Premier League games. 

Oliver will not be refereeing this weekend as he is officiating in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, just two days before Brighton vs Aston Villa

However, it’s since been revealed that the reason he is only working as a VAR official for Sunday’s game at the Amex is because he will be refereeing the UEFA Conference League semi-final clash between Fiorentina and Club Brugge on Thursday. 

That Conference League game in Italy gives him just two days to prepare for Brighton vs Aston Villa, so the decision has been taken to put him in the VAR studio.

Oliver was previously criticised for failing to award a penalty for Liverpool in the closing stages of their title clash against Man City in March. 

The Reds felt aggrieved not to receive a stoppage-time penalty for the high tackle on Alexis Mac Allister by Jeremy Doku at Anfield.

Referee Michael Oliver opted to wave play on, while VAR concurred with the on-field decision in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw.