Premier League make Newcastle United & Chelsea decision after Liverpool anger

The Premier League has confirmed the match officials for Saturday's Premier League clash between Newcastle United and Chelsea (kick-off 3pm).

Both clubs return to action following the two-week international break. Newcastle come into the fixture on the back of a 2-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth, while Chelsea previously played out a 4-4 draw with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Simon Hooper has been appointed as the referee, which will be the first time the Swindon-born official has been the man in the middle for a Magpies match this season.

His last fixture involving United was in May when Eddie Howe's side drew 2-2 against Leeds United. Three penalties were awarded in the game, two of which were converted by Callum Wilson and another saved by Nick Pope.

In his nine top-flight games this campaign, the 41-year-old has handed out 38 yellow cards and two reds, dismissing Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota in their controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in September.

Indeed, the two red cards were overshadowed by a VAR blunder when Luis Diaz's goal was incorrectly disallowed for offside.

The VAR team of Darren England and Daniel Cook thought the on-field decision was onside. England signalled ‘check complete’ which resulted in the play restarting with a Spurs free-kick. They realised their mistake immediately but couldn’t change the decision under existing protocols.

PGMOL chief Howard Webb admitted it was a clear error by England and Cook and both officials stood down for the final round of matches before the October international break.

Jurgen Klopp suggested the fixture should be replayed after Liverpool released a powerful statement.

"Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night," the statement read. "It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.

"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.

"It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.

"That such failings have already been categorised as 'significant human error' is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.

"This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.

"In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution."

Hooper will be assisted by Adrian Holmes and Simon Long with Jeremy Simpson as the fourth official. John Brooks and Neil Davies are on VAR duty.