Once again, Mike Dean was the headline referee of the previous weekend – coming up trumps with not just the one spot-kick (scored by Nicklas Bendtner) but also affording us a second (missed by Demba Ba) amongst the flurry of multi-coloured cards.

Having risen to the top of the penalty-giving charts before the North-East derby, Dean is now well clear of second placed Phil Dowd and looks set to be a staple of this column. However, after back-to-back derbies that resulted in three penalties, three dismissals and a total of 14 yellow cards, our favourite referee has been handed a rest for the Gameweek 28 fixtures and we’ll have to look elsewhere for our fix.

Martin Atkinson

A quick glance at the stats ahead of this weekend and it’s as if the referee appointments were tailor-made, as Bradford middle man Martin Atkinson eases clearly into view as the stand out appointment most likely to affect our Gameweek plans. Officiating in the first match of the weekend, the 12:45 kick off between Bolton Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers, this match up pairs the two teams with the most red cards in Premier League fixtures this season (five apiece) with the referee who tops the list for players dismissed.

Atkinson has so far sent off a total of 7 players in his 20 games this season (including QPR’s Clint Hill in Gameweek one); that’s a little more than one red card every three matches and, with no dismissals in his previous two, this game seems primed for a flash point. With his two straight red cards already this season, Bolton’s David Wheater would appear most at risk but QPR midfielder Joey Barton, already with eight yellow cards and a red of his own, is unlikely to be overshadowed when it comes to disciplinary matters.

Jon Moss

With just seven Premier League matches under his belt, Moss is the least experienced official on show this weekend – that’s one point of interest. The other is the fact that Moss has awarded five spot-kicks this term, giving him a higher strike rate in that area than even the mighty Dean. Moss will take charge of the Villa vs Fulham clash, with Villa perhaps more likely to be feeling uncomfortable over the appointment.

Moss gave one of his five penalties to Fulham this season, in the 2-0 defeat at Swansea – Clint Dempsey seeing his effort expertly saved by Michel Vorm. Interestingly, Moss has already bossed a game at Villa Park, dismissing Alan Hutton in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. Both sides may well go hunting for errant limbs to topple over in the box, then. Hutton meanwhile, will be looking to keep his cool as he gets reacquainted with an old friend.

Phil Dowd

Having been commended for his handling of the tasty United vs Liverpool clash at Old Trafford, Dowd will get to grips with Luis Suarez once again when he takes charge of the Merseyside derby in midweek. This will be Dowd’s third derby clash between the pair and history tells us that he’ll come out of it having made an impression.

Last season, Dowd took control of the clash – a match which marked Kenny Dalglish’s first game back in charge – and duly drew the wrath of the Liverpool boss, who claimed that both Everton goals in the 2-2 draw should have been ruled out. It’s worth noting that, whilst under fire from the home crowd, Dowd awarded a spot-kick, converted by Dirk Kuyt to level the scores. Way back in the days of 2006, meanwhile, Dowd took charge again at Anfield and had the gall to dismiss Steven Gerrard for two bookable offences after just 18 minutes. Dowd clearly has a history with the Anfield faithful.

It seems to be a love/hate relationship, however, with Liverpool earning two spot-kicks from him on their way to winning the Carling Cup. Indeed, the award of the penalty at City, converted by Gerrard, saw Dowd him come under a great deal of criticism. To be fair, Everton aren’t too fond of him either. His most recent game in charge of the Toffees saw him wave away the spot-kick screams of the Goodison crowd in the 2-1 defeat to Bolton. They’ll be hoping for better things on Tuesday. With only Mike Dean awarding more spot-kicks this term, and with an average of four bookings a game, Dowd seems primed to make an impact one way or another.