Stuart Attwell to officiate Aston Villa v Leeds United for first time since infamous 2019 clash
Stuart Attwell will take charge of the game when Aston Villa return to action against Leeds United, for the first time since the infamous 2019 meeting between the sides in the Championship.
Steven Gerrard takes his injury-hit squad to Elland Road on Sunday (2 October) to face Jesse Marsch’s side who won’t have played a first-team match for 29 days.
The officials in charge of the game have been announced by the Premier League, and Warwickshire referee Attwell will direct the fixture for the first time since Dean Smith took his side to face Marcelo Bielsa in the second tier just over three years ago.
On the dramatic day on 28 April 2019, both teams had play-off spots in hand when chaos exploded in the second half, which Attwell will surely want to avoid this time round.
When Villans striker Jonathan Kodja went down in midfield the visitors stopped, expecting the ball to be put out of play, but instead Tyler Roberts played Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich down the left who cut inside and curled a finish into the far corner.
Furious Villa players confronted Whites opponents, both benches clashed, and Anwar El Ghazi was sent off by Attwell after simulation from Patrick Bamford, a decision that was later overturned.
Ever the unpredictable character, Bielsa bellowed instructions from the sideline ordering his players to allow an equaliser to be scored, which Albert Adomah did despite attempts from an angry Pontus Jansson.
The Lions went up that summer after victory in the play-off final but a rivalry was born that day which 39-year-old Attwell will hope doesn’t spill over again.
Memorable
From a Villa point of view it ended how they wanted, as they were comfortably in the play-off places at the time and they did go up via that route.
It ended a long winning run for the opponents from West Yorkshire and confirmed they would miss out on automatic promotion, before they were dumped out of the play-offs by Frank Lampard’s Derby who Smith overcame in the final.
With the now-Everton boss and the Rams also ending up as strong rivals of Leeds following that season it seems Bielsa’s side were the common denominator for controversy at the time, although they did become a favourite of the neutral under the Argentine when they eventually did make it back to the top flight.
A 1-1 draw wouldn’t be the worst result for Gerrard this time around, although he could really do with the three points, but it will be instructive of how this team is set to look for the next few weeks in the run up to the World Cup.
Boubacar Kamara’s injury is a major blow on top of Diego Carlos’ absence, and the problem for Lucas Digne is not much more helpful.
The Villans boss already seemed to reign it in for the 1-0 win over Southampton last time out (16 September) so it is likely to be more of the same at the weekend.
At this stage an attritional victory on the road would be a decent achievement, but whether fans will particularly enjoy witnessing it might be other matter.
In other Aston Villa news, Chris Sutton says Philippe Coutinho’s inconsistency is costing his manager.