Who is the referee for Arsenal vs. Chelsea? Past controversies & record in charge of both clubs

Arsenal and Chelsea square off in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon with both clubs boasting 100% records after two games of the 2026-27 campaign.

In the build-up to the showdown at the Emirates Stadium, the Premier League has confirmed the match officials as the London rivals attempt to end matchday three at the top of the Premier League table.

Here, Sports Mole will take a closer look at the referee for the game, their record in charge of both clubs and their past controversies.

Who is the referee in charge of Arsenal vs. Chelsea?

The Premier League has revealed that Chris Kavanagh will be the referee for what will be viewed as the biggest game of the 2026-27 Premier League campaign so far.

Dan Cook and Tim Wood have been appointed as the assistants, with Tom Bramall allocated fourth official duties.

At Stockley Park, Darren England will in charge of VAR, accompanied by Constantine Hatzidakis as the assistant for the video technology.

Record in charge of Arsenal and Chelsea

Kavanagh made his Premier League debut all the back in 2016-17 and has now racked up 195 matches as a referee in England's top flight.

As you would expect, Kavanagh have been involved in an array of Arsenal and Chelsea fixtures, taking charge of 29 Gunners games in the Premier League and 26 of Chelsea's

Over the years, Arsenal have prevailed on 16 occasions with Kavanagh as the man in the middle, a record that is accompanied by seven draws and six defeats.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have lost eight of their 26 games when Kavanagh has been in charge, albeit with the Blues having 15 victories to their name.

Notably, this will be the third time in 10 matches that Kavanagh has refereed Chelsea in the Premier League. On the previous two occasions, they have lost to Manchester City and Sunderland.

On average, Arsenal and Chelsea have only been receiving just below two yellow cards per game, while Kavanagh has only handed one straight red card across the combined 55 matches.

That was all the way back in July 2020 when Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah was sent off in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City, just four minutes after his introduction as a substitute.

However, Wesley Fofana was dismissed for two yellow cards in Chelsea's game with Sunderland on the final day of 2025-26, a game in which they suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Since the start of 2023-24, this will be the third Premier League fixture between Arsenal and Chelsea that Kavanagh has officiated.

He was in charge for the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on October 21, 2023 as Arsenal netted twice in the final 13 minutes to earn a share of the spoils, while he also had the whistle in hand when Arsenal prevailed 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on March 16, 2025.

Past controversies

Kavanagh is one of the Premier League's most established officials, yet that does not mean that he does not find himself embroiled in controversy from time to time.

As recently as May, Kavanagh officiated Arsenal's 1-0 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium, seeing nothing wrong with a last-gasp Hammers equaliser from Callum Wilson until VAR made the hotly-contested call to advise Kavanagh that he should go to the monitor.

From the goal being scored to Kavanagh taking the advice of the VAR team, four minutes and 11 seconds passed by. It is viewed as one of the most important VAR-assisted calls in the history of the Premier League as Arsenal went on to seal the Premier League title from Manchester City in the two weeks that followed.

Meanwhile, as recently as February, Kavanagh - who took charge of 30 Premier League fixtures in 2025-26 - was stood down for a matchday after a number of glaring errors during an FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

Without VAR to aid Kavanagh and his team, an offside for Villa's first goal was missed, there was a potential offside for Newcastle's equaliser, and a potential red card for Lucas Digne, who somehow also avoided conceding a penalty.

Despite a handball that took place two yards inside the penalty area, Kavanagh awarded a free kick, much to the fury of Newcastle. It eventually mattered little as Newcastle progressed through to the next round.

Going back as far as 2022, Kavanagh was on VAR duty when Rodri appeared destinated to be penalised for the ball hitting his raised arm in the penalty area in a game between Everton and Manchester City.

However, neither the referee or Kavanagh deemed it worthy of a penalty. Everton later received an apology from the PGMOL, who acknowledged that the Toffees should have been awarded a spot kick.