Everton fans won’t like the referee announcement for this Sunday’s Merseyside derby at all.
Referee Martin Atkinson will take charge of the crunch clash between Everton and Liverpool. It will mark the official’s return to Goodison Park after he enraged Toffees fans four years ago.
Sunday will be the fifth occasion Atkinson will be the man in the middle of the park for the Merseyside derby and he has a history of making contentious decisions in the clash.
He has sent off three players during those derbies, with his decision to show Jack Rodwell a straight red card for a foul on Luis Suarez in 2011 taking the prize as the most controversial.
Rodwell was handed his marching orders for executing a perfectly good tackle on the former Liverpool forward. The Reds went on to beat their 10-man opponents 2-0, while the sending off was later rescinded.
A worrying statistic for the game is that Atkinson has shown more yellow cards this season than any other Premier League referee, flashing the yellow 32 times in just seven matches. It’s a pretty safe bet that there will be bookings for this encounter.
