The Premier League have named their officiating team for Manchester City’s trip to Elland Road including the matchday referee who has recently come under fire for his decision-making.
Manchester City are looking for their fourth successive Premier League victory and Leeds United will be the next team seeking to test the team in second place.
It has been a season of ups and downs for Man City, but progress appears to have been made based on their recent form.
City have taken three days off ahead of the fixture, but will be back training on Wednesday to prepare for another game where a win is required.
Premier League place North London derby referee in charge of Leeds vs Man City
Manchester City have learned who will be refereeing their next match and it is none other than Peter Bankes, who recently oversaw Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.
The official will be unpopular with City supporters as he ruled out Randal Kolo Muani’s second half equaliser which would have made the score 2-2. However, the French forward was deemed to have pushed Gabriel, causing the Arsenal defender to lose his footing.
In truth, the centre-back’s fall was very over dramatic and he should have been able to withstand the force of Muani.
Whether Bankes’ call was the correct decision or not, it is bound to be a talking point ahead of Man City’s upcoming test in Yorkshire.
Peter Bankes has refereed two Man City matches this season
This will be the third time Bankes has refereed a Manchester City fixture this season. He has already taken charge of their August clash against Spurs, as well as the previous meeting between Leeds and Pep Guardiola’s team.
City of course were unable to take any points against Tottenham in their second league game of the season, falling to a surprising 2-0 defeat.
However, they were able to secure a 3-2 victory over Leeds last time the clubs went head to head and Guardiola will be hoping to repeat this kind of result on Saturday.
