The match officials have now been confirmed for the Premier League encounter between Aston Villa and Arsenal on Saturday 24th August (17:30).
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Assistant Referee: Stuart Burt.
Assistant Referee: Dan Cook.
Fourth Official: Darren England.
Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes.
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Edward Smart.
Michael Oliver oversaw one match involving Aston Villa last season and six involving Arsenal, as seen below.
Aston Villa:
Luton Town 2-3 Aston Villa (Premier League) (5 yellow cards)
Arsenal:
Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Premier League) (4 yellow cards)
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City (Premier League) (5 yellow cards)
Arsenal 3-1 Burnley (Premier League) (1 yellow card and 1 red card)
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham United (Premier League) (2 yellow cards)
Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Arsenal (Premier League) (3 yellow cards)
Arsenal 2-1 Everton (Premier League) (7 yellow cards)
So far this season, he has refereed two matches, his first of which was the Europa League qualifying match between Rapid Vienna and Wisla Krakow (6-1) when he showed just 1 yellow card and the second was the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth (1-1) when he showed 5 yellow cards, taking his total to 5 for the season with an average of 2.50.
Michael Oliver was the man in the middle for a total of 39 matches during the 2023/24 season, showing 150 yellow cards (3.85) and 6 red cards. He was most card-happy in the Premier League encounter between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea when he showed 7 yellow cards and 2 red cards.
Sources: Premier League and Soccerbase.