West Ham will continue their Premier League campaign at the London Stadium on Saturday evening in a derby match against Fulham.
After a difficult run of fixtures against top-six sides such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham, Leicester City and Wolves, West Ham are in a relatively healthy position in the Premier League.
David Moyes’ side are sitting in 14th position in the Premier League with eight points and a positive goal difference (+3). The Hammer now have an ‘easier‘ run of games which include Sheffield United, Aston Villa, Leeds, Crystal Palace and a tough match against Manchester United. But first up is the match against Fulham.
The Hammers next match against Fulham is, on paper, an easier match considering the Cottagers sit one place and one point above the relegation zone. Fulham had been in the bottom three all season until their 2-0 win over West Brom on Monday night.
The Premier League have announced the officials for the match between the two London based sides. The relatively inexperienced Robert Jones will take charge of the match. The Englishman has only officiated one Premier League match so far in his career, a game between Sheffield United and Brighton and Hove Albion.
In the game, there were only four yellow cards issued in what was a fairly quiet game in terms of controversy. The only moment that would have raised eyebrows was the disallowing of a goal by VAR due to handball.
Jones will be assisted by linesmen Darren Cann and Mark Scholes. The fourth official will be the experienced Martin Atkinson, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Andre Marriner. Marriner will have his own assistant, Eddie Smart.
So for Jones, it will arguably be the biggest Premier League match that he has officiated over. The Merseyside born referee has plenty of experience in the lower divisions and should be ready to officiate the match on Saturday competently.