Mikel Arteta will be wary of Premier League decision ahead of Sunderland vs Arsenal

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Sunderland are looking to end Arsenal’s impressive run of results on Saturday evening, and Mikel Arteta will probably be conscious of the fact the referee for the game has a long history of controversial decisions involving the Gunners.

Quite simply, Arsenal look unstoppable right now. They are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and haven’t conceded a goal in their last eight.

It already looks like the Premier League title is Arsenal’s to lose, but a strong Sunderland side stand in their way and an away trip to the Stadium of Light is never easy.

The Black Cats will be desperate to halt Arsenal’s record-breaking run of form, while both sides will be hoping the referee for the game doesn’t play too significant a role in the outcome of the match.

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Who is the referee for Sunderland vs Arsenal?

The referee for Saturday’s game will be Craig Pawson. James Mainwaring and Mat Wilkes will be the assistants on the day, while Anthony Backhouse is in as the fourth official.

Meanwhile, in the VAR room, James Bell will be in charge. He will be assisted by Adam Nunn.

Craig Pawson’s record explained

Looking at Pawson’s record in 2025/26, he’s taken charge of eight games — six in the Premier League and two in the Carabao Cup.

He’s shown two red cards and awarded two penalties over the course of those eight matches. The most recent incident was a red card for Liverpool youngster Amara Nallo last week in the League Cup.

Over the course of his career, Pawson has officiated a whopping 347 matches. He’s shown 51 red cards and 1278 yellow cards (a rate of 3.68 bookings per game).

He’s taken charge of 29 Arsenal matches, and they’ve involved three red cards, 42 yellow cards, and on average there are 10.31 fouls per game.

Interestingly, Pawson has been involved in just 12 Sunderland matches, but has still shown two red cards and more than half as many yellows (23).

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Mikel Arteta and Craig Pawson have history

It’s safe to say Mikel Arteta did not have much luck in games where Pawson was involved, at least at the start of his Arsenal career.

Just nine days into Arteta’s reign, in fact, Pawson officiated a heated clash against Chelsea. The Gunners lost that game 2-1 and there were a number of incidents that enraged Arsenal fans.

Jorginho (then at Chelsea) avoided a second yellow card for a shirt pull, despite Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira getting a booking for the same offence earlier in the game. Ironically, Jorginho then scored a free-kick to rub salt in the wound and help seal a 2-1 win for the Blues.

Arsenal actually went on a run of five games without a win while Pawson was the man in the middle. That included a defeat to Wolves where David Luiz was controversially sent off after a VAR review and a penalty was awarded to Wolves. Later, Bernd Leno was also sent off, leaving the Gunners with nine men.

Arteta was not pleased, naturally, and after the game he said: “If you want to talk about the decision I’ve just seen the replay ten times in five different angles and I cannot see any contact. I would like to see if VAR has different angles.

“If they got it right and can justify that they got it right I hold my hand up and apologise. All I am saying is that I’m sitting here and I cannot see any contact and that’s really, really frustrating because it’s a big moment in the game.”

However, you can’t say that Pawson has an agenda against Arsenal. In fact, a few years later, the shoe was on the other foot, as Manchester United fans raged when they noticed Pawson wink at Arteta after a 3-1 Arsenal win in 2022.

Ironically, Sunderland man Granit Xhaka was on the scoresheet that day. Now, he’s feeling emotional about facing Arsenal again after leaving the club in 2023. Can he make the difference at the Stadium of Light and make Arteta regret selling him? Only time will tell.