Referee and VAR officials appointed for Man Utd at Sunderland, Harry Maguire won’t be happy

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Manchester United face Sunderland this coming weekend in a rare Saturday 3pm kick-off.

Even though Champions League qualification is guaranteed, Manchester United have the incentive to secure third place in the Premier League table.

Sunderland away are next up, and the match officials have now been confirmed by the Premier League.

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Match officials vs Sunderland (a)

A potentially unpopular referee choice has been confirmed for the fixture…

• Referee: Stuart Attwell
• Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Nick Greenhalgh
• Fourth official: Dean Whitestone
• VAR: Peter Bankes, Steve Meredith (assistant)

Stuart Attwell was in charge of VAR for United’s win over Liverpool at the weekend.

But more pertinently, he refereed the recent 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, where he sent off Harry Maguire.

The Red Devils centre-back was later given an additional game suspension for his language towards Attwell, and he won’t be happy to see Attwell again.

The previous Manchester United game Attwell refereed was the 2-2 draw at Burnley.

This game left caretaker boss Darren Fletcher infuriated after a Lisandro Martinez goal was ruled out. The Premier League later accepted this was a mistake.

Attwell did referee United’s 2-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

Going further back, Attwell once sent off Sergio Romero in United’s League Cup defeat to Derby under Jose Mourinho. He was also the referee when United lost 4-0 to MK Dons. That never feels like a good omen.

• READ: The worst decisions given against Manchester United by referees and VAR in the 2025/26 season

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Peter Bankes has history with United too

Peter Bankes’ appointment to VAR has a little footnote where Manchester United are concerned too.

Bankes was the VAR official when Bruno Fernandes was sent off in United’s defeat to Tottenham in 2024.

He decided not to overturn the decision, with Fernandes slipping as he attempted to tackle James Maddison.

Fernandes’ red card was later overturned.