Aston Villa’s Premier League clash with Liverpool has seen a last-minute change of referee.
Stuart Attwell was initially scheduled to oversee the clash of the giants at Villa Park on Wednesday night, but the 42-year-old has now been replaced by Craig Pawson. Pawson was initially slated to take the reins of Leeds United’s Championship meeting with Sunderland AFC at Elland Road on Monday evening.
However, he was replaced by Attwell last-minute, with many fans questioning whether the decision was based on Pawson’s reported fandom with Sheffield United. But sources recently told the Sheffield Star, the decision was based purely on scheduling and not due to a conflict of interests.
The change-up means that Pawson will instead officiate Villa’s match against Liverpool come Wednesday evening, as Arne Slot’s side look to extend their seven-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table. The Reds have won 18 of their 25 games in the English top flight this season thus far, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Nottingham Forest back in September.
Meanwhile, at ninth in the standings, Villa are hopeful of keeping their European dreams alive for the 2025/26 campaign, just five points from Europa League qualification and six from the Champions League. Unai Emery’s team has impressed on European stage across 2024/25, finishing eighth in the new league format with five wins, one draw and just two losses from eight games.
The Villains are next set to play either Club Brugge, Borussia Dortmund of Sporting CP in the Round of 16, as they hope to achieve their first Champions League title since 1982’s 1-0 win over Bayern Munich. Elsewhere, Monday’s fixture between the Peacocks and the Black Cats ended in controversial fashion.
Wilson Isidor, who was signed by Sunderland on a permanent deal during the January transfer window, opened the scoring at Elland Road with 32 minutes played after an incredible ball from deep by Dan Ballard found him bursting into the box. The Frenchman got the better of Ethan Ampadu, before slamming the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal with precision.
Regis Le Bris’ side looked to park the bus and maintain their lead from thereon, successfully doing so until centre-half Pascal Struijk levelled the playing field with 12 minutes of normal time left to play. Patrick Roberts conceded a dangerous free kick on the left-hand flank, which Joe Rothwell put into the centre of the box with precision, glancing off the head of Struijk and into the back of the net.
Sunderland made the short trip back to Wearside empty-handed when Struijk sealed the deal for United at the death of the game, a goal in which Rothwell was also involved in. The midfielder cut inside from the right-hand side, before curling a shot towards Anthony Patterson’s goal, lobbing the keeper before Struijk once more nodded the ball home to give Leeds all three points.
The victory landed Leeds back at the top of the Championship table, two points clear of Sheffield United as they look to win automatic promotion back to the Premier League. Sunderland, meanwhile, look likely to finish in the playoff spots for their efforts across 2024/25, currently sitting fourth eight points away from automatic promotion with 13 games left to play.
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