The Premier League have announced the referee to take charge of West Ham’s match against Aston Villa on Monday.
West Ham are preparing to take on Aston Villa are both revelling in great starts to the Premier League season. Many fans at the start of the campaign would have expected this match to have been a relegation six-pointer. Instead, the victor of the match could climb into the European qualification spots.
The Hammers will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce whereas the West Midlands side will be hoping to bounce back after defeat to Brighton. Fans will be curious to see which Villa side turns up, will it be the one that lost to the Seagulls or the one that thrashed Liverpool.
One thing that fans won’t have to worry about anymore is who will be in charge of the match. The Premier League have now announced that Peter Bankes will officiate the match between the top-half sides.
The referee has only ever taken charge of one West Ham match in the past. The match was a League Cup defeat for the Hammers against Leicester City in 2015. In that match, Mark Noble, Mauro Zarate and Pedro Obiang were given yellow cards.
The Merseyside born referee has a lot more experience officiating Villa in the Championship. In the twelve games Bankes has taken charge of Villa, they have lost six, drawn three and only won three. Bankes has only ever sent off one Villa play in the past, James Chester in a 3-3 draw with Preston North End.
Peter Bankes will be assisted by Neil Davies, James Mainwaring who will take their positions as the linesman. The fourth official will be the experienced Anthony Taylor and the VAR officials will be Stuart Attwell and his assistant Stephen Child.
David Moyes in the meantime will be waiting for an update on star forward Michail Antonio. The Englishman has been absent since his injury against Manchester City but could be fit enough to return to the bench against Villa.