Referee For West Ham’s Clash With Crystal Palace Announced
West Ham will want to take revenge on Crystal Palace on Wednesday night after the South London side did the double over the Hammers last season.
Both Crystal Palace and West Ham have had good starts to the season. Palace look set to make a challenge of the top ten, while the Hammers currently occupy a European spot after a great comeback win over Leeds United on Saturday.
The match between the two London rivals will mean even more than a traditional London derby as a win could cement both sides’ positions in the table. Due to this increased pressure, the man in the middle will have a vital job to officiate the game.
The Premier League have announced that the referee for the match will be David Coote, which might concern many Hammers fans. Coote’s record while officiating Wets Ham matches does not make for pleasurable reading. The Hammers have lost four of the five games that the Nottinghamshire born referee has overseen.
The only time West Ham did not lose was in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United last season. The most recent game that Coote oversaw was a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City. The Hammers, however, were awarded a penalty in that game, which Mark Noble routinely dispatched.
Coote’s main aid will be Peter Bankes, who will take charge of VAR for the match. At the moment the hammers will be anti-VAR after allowing Leeds a penalty retake for punishing Lukasz Fabianski for being millimetres off of his line. VAR is proving to replicate the refereeing of old, one week it gives kindly and the next it will take away harshly.
Hammers fans won’t be happy to hear that Bankes is in charge of VAR after his performance during West Ham’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa. Plenty of free-kicks were awarded against the David Moyes’ side, many of which could have been seen as light. Many fans feel the theatrics of Jack Grealish often conned the referee.
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Hopefully, there are no controversial decisions that need to made in the game, which could be one of the most exciting games of the seasons so far.