Football
Who Is The Referee For Arsenal vs Brighton? Premier League Confirm Match Officials For Weekend Opener
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished28 Aug 2024
Arsenal welcome Brighton to the Emirates in the weekend’s opener on Saturday afternoon, and the Premier League have confirmed the referee and full set of match officials assigned to the fixture.
Both Arsenal and Brighton have enjoyed perfect starts to the 2024/25 Premier League season, boasting two wins from two apiece, and they meet in the weekend’s opener on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates.
The Gunners have recorded two comfortable back-to-back 2-0 wins over Wolves and most recently Aston Villa, while the Seagulls beat Everton 3-0 on the opening weekend and Manchester United 2-1 in dramatic fashion last time out.
Ex-Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck bagged the opener in that one before Amad Diallo drew the Red Devils level, but after a disallowed goal for the visitors, Joao Pedro was on hand to head home a 95th winner to snatch all three points for the south coast club.
They have since followed that up with a comfortable 4-0 win over Crawley in the Carabao Cup second round, in which new signing Matt O’Riley suffered an ankle injury, while Mikel Arteta’s side were afforded a rest.
Since their last outing though, the North Londoners have confirmed the signing of midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad, and he could be in line to make his debut in Saturday’s early kick-off.
Arsenal vs Brighton Confirmed Match Officials
- Referee: Chris Kavanagh
- Assistants: Lee Betts and Richard West
- Fourth Official: John Busby
- VAR: Andy Madley
- Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith
Chris Kavanagh 2024/25 Statistics
- Matches: 3
- Yellow Cards: 17
- Red Cards: 1
- Penalties: 0
As it’s so early in the season, we don’t have much to go off in terms of statistics for match officials as of yet, with each of Chris Kavanagh’s three matches coming in separate competitions.
The 38-year-old’s opening game of the campaign came at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, when he took charge of Ajax vs Panathinaikos in the Europa League third-qualifying round. In that clash, he brandished 10 yellow cards as the Eredivisie side went on to win 13-12 on penalties.
He followed that one up by refereeing Leicester’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and most recently officiated Legia Warsaw vs Drita in the Conference League play-off round, in which he showed a red card to Hasan Gomda for violent conduct.
Did Chris Kavanagh Referee Arsenal or Brighton Last Season?
Last season, Kavanagh took charge of two Arsenal matches, but he didn’t get the opportunity to referee Brighton at all.
His first Gunners match last term came during the ninth round of fixtures in a London derby against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The game ended in a 2-2 stalemate, with Kavanagh handing out six yellow cards as well as awarding the Blues a penalty, which Cole Palmer unsurprisingly converted.
The Manchester-born official was also appointed to Arsenal’s away fixture against Liverpool at Anfield last December, which also ended in a draw. Finishing 1-1, Kavanagh showed seven yellow cards in that one, with five going the way of Arsenal players.