By Graham Poll

PUBLISHED: 03:51 EST, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 06:30 EST, 2 November 2012

What a week it has been and thank goodness for the return of the Premier League games to hopefully allow us to enjoy some more absorbing action on the pitch.

With the fallout from the last game of last weekend still rumbling on it is unfortunately easy to forget that last Sunday saw two fantastic games of football; the Merseyside derby and of course Chelsea v Manchester United.

Both were well refereed until the Fernando Torres dismissal and I expect this weekend to start in similar vein as Mike Dean, the top referee the Premier League has, on current form, the match of the weekend: Manchester United v Arsenal.

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There is talk in refereeing circles of a reaction to the allegations from Stamford Bridge last Sunday.

If referees feel that their livelihoods are going to be threatened by allegations of improper comments and language then their man management styles will be compromised. Perhaps, as suggested earlier in the week, the Clattenburg affair will prove a watershed in making officials react properly to abusive comments from Premier League players. I would love to see the correct action taken by Mike Dean in the first game and if (or when) a player abuses him or one of his assistants, rather than turn the other cheek he should immediately show the red card.

Perhaps, if all 10 referees on Premier League duty this weekend were to react consistently, there could be 20 red cards or more for abusive comments and shocked players might just learn to respect the guys who try their best every week rather than ritually abuse safe in the knowledge that they will not be punished.

Spat: Keane (left) and Vieira clash in 1999

Spat: Keane (left) and Vieira clash in 1999

Manchester United v Arsenal

Mike Dean G6 YC15, RC0

Unusually Dean received widespread praise for his last match, the televised Tottenham v Chelsea game a fortnight ago.

This fixture has a rich history of clashes and is one that I refereed on nine occasions including the one with the Patrick Vieira/Roy Keane tunnel incident at Highbury.

I expect no such antics before or during this game as both teams will be well aware of their responsibility in front of a massive TV audience.

I was at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening and was hugely impressed with United's approach towards referee Lee Mason. Expect Dean to keep his average card count below 3 a game.

Top form: Mike Dean takes charge of Manchester United v Arsenal

Top form: Mike Dean takes charge of Manchester United v Arsenal

West Ham United v Manchester City

Howard Webb G5 YC23 RC1

World Cup final referee Webb returns from his family break in America and goes straight into the live game at Upton Park.

He has cautioned almost five a game, a stat slanted by 15 yellow cards in his last two Premier League games!

This game could be another difficult one for the Rotherham man as Sam Allardyce always loves his teams to get amongst the big four and ruffle their feathers. Watch Kevin Nolan's positioning and actions at corners as it will be interesting to see how Joe Hart copes with such close attention.

Back in action: Webb returns from a break

Back in action: Webb returns from a break

REST OF THE FIXTURES

Fulham v Everton – Neil Swarbrick

Norwich City v Stoke City – Andre Marriner

Sunderland v Aston Villa – Mike Jones

Swansea City v Chelsea – Kevin Friend

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic – Martin Atkinson

Liverpool v Newcastle United – Anthony Taylor

West Bromwich Albion v Southampton – Mark Halsey

Queens Park Rangers v Reading

Michael Oliver G4 YC8 RC1

I am delighted that Oliver has returned to Premier League action; he started with four consecutive games but the last was Chelsea v Stoke on September 22.

He is the best prospect on the list and has no fear when making big decisions.

Oliver has been supporting Mark Clattenburg this week and I hope that has not distracted his preparation as this is a massive game for both teams and will be a big test for him.

QPR can set a new, if unwanted record; they are currently equal with Everton for having nine players dismissed in Premier League action in a calendar year. With two months still to go and tensions running high at Loftus Road don't be surprised of that record goes on Sunday.


The comments below have been moderated in advance.

the big answer this week end is that man u should be the leader this week and nothing should stop them so no criticisms about ref

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Swansea Vs Chelsea - Kevin, Friend of Chelsea perhaps?

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- ManUtd rules , the heavens bove., United Kingdom, 02/11/2012 12:44 ----------------------------------You really think Mason favored Chelsea on Wednesday? He could easily have sent 2 Utd players off, especially as Wooton had already been booked before committing the foul for the penalty, denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity.. He's not biased, he's just not very good - just as many of them are just not very good.

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Started reading this and got to the point where he mentions that BOTH the Merseyside derby and the MUFC v Chelsea games were 'well refereed'. I usually respect Graham Poll but how he could ever think the standard of official at the derby was anything but abysmal is beyond me here?

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As a former referee, I have always said that the Referee on the Pro-Game circuit is not allowed to follow fully the Laws of the Game, by the pressures of the Pro-clubs. My example was and still is the Law alluded to by the writer ex Ref Poll's own words ... if the 10 Refs in this weeks game were to follow the Laws of the game fully.... now he was part of the system also, so why did he not follow those self same rules? and as such the answer reflects the FOUL or Abusive language directed at them, if the same were to be said in an Amateur match the player would not last 2 minutes on the field, and yes I know the wording to the Rule was changed years ago but not the intent of the Rule. The rod has been made for the back of the Referees in our Pro -Game by the Referees and supervisors and administrators by turning a blind eye to this Ref baiting and the failure to follow the letter of the Law or the spirit of this Law.

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Man utd rules. Please enlighten me as to the bias desissions of which you talk?

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I am all for a rugby type, zero tolerance of swearing at the ref...but in the same light, you cannot have incompetent and abusive referring from the likes of Clattenberg. He has to go for a fresh start.

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Why is there a feature on refs? No one cares who the ref is, we only care that they make the right decisions.

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Mike "Arsenal fan" Dean has the ManUtd v Arsenal game to ensure an Arsenal victory, just like Mason had the Lge cup game to ensure chelski won and man they needed him as they couldnt even beat our fringe/reserve squad, after we fairly hammered them on sunday I knew the FA would help them and wasnt at all surprised to see Mason do us over - massive screw job conspiracy set by the City clown at the anti-Utd FA.NOW FOR SOME DELUDED ABU TRIPE, MOSTLY FROM CLOWNS LIKE LOUIS AND MANU.

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I dispare at the quality of our refs and when I heard there boss on SKY the other day it only deepened my concerns. Going on about how proffessional our refs are. how they study every team, even players. Whats that all about? Why on earth do you have to know that.? Does knowing Scholes 'can't tackle' or Suarez goes down easily influnce how you ref them? Does knowing it's a fierce local derby influence how you ref the game? Non of that should matter one jot. You should be able to pick a ref out of a hat Friday night, drop him at the ground in time for all the pre match preliminaries and he should be able to go out there with no bias, no preconceptions, no fear of a Fergie back lash or a SKY inquisition and ref the game, as he sees it by applying the rules in a fair, even handed way, everyweek, without fear or favour. To me the whole ethos of preperation (xcept rules/fitness of course) can only feed prejudgement and possibly even bias. Foriegn refs r the answer. Fly in, ref, fly out.

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