Favourable treatment: Every Premier League team's luckiest and least favourite referees revealed!

A new study has analysed the win rates of every Premier League side when officiated by each referee to find which officials give certain teams an easy ride – or a tough time.
James Tarkowski of Burnley is shown a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper as Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace reacts during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Burnley FC at Selhurst Park on June 29, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.James Tarkowski of Burnley is shown a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper as Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace reacts during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Burnley FC at Selhurst Park on June 29, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.
James Tarkowski of Burnley is shown a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper as Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace reacts during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Burnley FC at Selhurst Park on June 29, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.

The research from Paddy Power dates back to the start of the 2016/17 season to see how win rates and the prominence of red cards and penalties varies according to which official takes charge for each side – finding that Tottenham have failed to win a single one of their eight games officiated by Paul Tierney over the period.

In fact, over the last five seasons, 17 of the 20 clubs have failed to win any matches with a particular unfavourable referee respectively.

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Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City are the only teams to have won at least one game with all of the current crop of Premier League refs to have taken charge of one of their fixtures.

Graph A: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley and Chelsea.Graph A: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley and Chelsea.
Graph A: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley and Chelsea.

More favourable relationships include the one between Manchester United and Anthony Taylor. He’s officiated 18 United games since 2016/17, with the Red Devils claiming victory in 14 of those matches (a 78%-win rate).

Newcastle fans will be hoping Stewart Attwell is the man in the middle for all of their games – the Magpies have won eight out of 10 matches with him in charge.

Several Premier League sides have a perfect record with particular officials (winning 100% of games) but most have had fewer matches involving their most favoured referee. Even relegated Sheffield United have won four from four with Simon Hooper.

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The research also looked at the number of penalties awarded against each team from each referee, finding Leicester City to have conceded five spot kicks in their 10 fixtures officiated by Anthony Taylor.

Graph B: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Leicester City.Graph B: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Leicester City.
Graph B: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Leicester City.

And Liverpool fans won’t want to see Michael Oliver refereeing their matches any time soon – the no-nonsense official has awarded 10 penalties against the Reds in 22 matches.

Arsenal players should watch their step in matches officiated by Craig Pawson as he’s sent off four Gunners players during nine games in charge.

Spokesman Paddy Power said: “Referees are known for being fair and balanced, so it’s surprising to see results like Spurs never winning with Paul Tierney, or Craig Pawson’s fondness for sending off Arsenal players. But this apparent favouritism could also do wonders for teams like Newcastle as they look to avoid the drop.

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“We’ve seen some highly questionable on-field and VAR decisions this season, but no one thought there was any favouritism at play – we all just assumed they were equally bad across the board.”

Graph C: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Sheffield United.Graph C: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Sheffield United.
Graph C: The best and worst referees in terms of win percentage for Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Sheffield United.

The data showed that Simon Hooper is Burnley’s favourite referee, with a 67% win rate, Andre Marriner awards the most penalties against Burnley while Mike Dean hands out the most red cards to Burnley players.

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