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Arsenal will welcome North London rivals Tottenham to the Emirates on Wednesday night.
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Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will meet for the second time this season for what could be an intriguing North London Derby on Wednesday night at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners lost on penalties to rivals Manchester United in their last match in the FA Cup third round, after they failed to score a winner in a 60-minute period against a 10-man United team after Diogo Dalot was sent off in the 61st minute. Arsenal sit second in the Premier League table, six points away from league leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand over Mikel Arteta’s side.
Meanwhile, Spurs beat non-league side Tamworth 3-0 in extra time in their last match, in what was a potential banana skin fixture in the third round of the FA Cup. It was their second win in a row after a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. In the first North London derby this season, Arsenal won 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in mid-September, after a Gunners corner led to a Gabriel goal to give the away side the bragging rights.
Both teams come into the game with inconsistent form, and they will both be hoping to get the better of their close rivals on Wednesday night under the lights at the Emirates.
Premier League appoint referee and officials for Arsenal vs Spurs
The Premier League has appointed Simon Hooper to be the referee for the North London derby, which could be a fiery affair for Hooper to deal with. He has been in charge of 16 matches so far this season, including 12 Premier League fixtures. Hooper has shown 74 yellow cards and two reds, he was last seen during Brighton’s 4-0 FA Cup win against Norwich City, when no cards were handed out at Carrow Road.
Hooper’s assistants will be Adrian Holmes and Simon Long, who both worked as a team with Hooper during Newcastle United’s 2-0 win against Manchester United at the end of December. Peter Bankes has been appointed as the VAR, he has officiated in 16 games this season, showing 66 yellow cards and two red cards. He was last seen in charge of Tottenham’s 3-0 FA Cup win against Tamworth on Sunday afternoon.
Hooper involved in previous Tottenham controversy
Hooper was the man in the middle last season when Spurs dramatically and controversially defeated Liverpool 2-1. In the game, Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out for offside by the linesman, VAR checked the decision but a miscommunication meant they confirmed the on-field decision as opposed to overturning it with clear evidence the Liverpool winger was onside. The Reds also finished the game with nine men after Curtis Jones was shown a straight red card after Hooper was recommended to check a tackle from the Liverpool midfielder. He also showed Diogo Jota a second yellow card as a Joel Matip own goal in stoppage time won the game for Spurs.
Liverpool manager at the time Jurgen Klopp suggested the game should be replayed while Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said it was unlikely he’d have allowed the visitors to score after the Diaz goal was wrongly ruled out. He said: “I just don't see that. If we want managers to be the arbiters of these kind of things... we've got pretty hefty responsibilities at our football clubs but we're not the custodians.
"I wouldn't make a decision that could potentially send a club down on the back of what my beliefs are. In that moment, if somebody could tell me that they could explain everything that went on within the prism of 30 seconds... I have to make a decision and it wasn't going to happen. It's different if it's something clear. It was a bad error through a lack of communication but it wasn't something that was easily explainable. If it was easily explainable, I would assume there would have been more uproar than there was."