As the new season begins to take shape, so the scrutiny on the match officials will continue. With such fine margins between winning and losing, the men and women in the middle and their assistants need to ensure that, insofar as is possible, games are allowed to flow, and decisions made only when necessary.
The pressure on those who are handed the responsibility of being the VAR is perhaps even more acute, given how many seasons those working for PRORef (previously PGMOL) have had to get to grips with the system.
New law invoked at Palace
In the Crystal Palace vs Man City game on Friday, Andy Madley oversaw proceedings on the pitch, with Stuart Attwell his back-up in Stockley Park.
It would be half an hour before the official needed to reach into his pocket in what was a fairly even game to that point.
"Rayan Cherki went into the referee's book for a foul on Adam Wharton. It was a holding offence stopping a promising attack, classed as unsporting behaviour. A correct decision from referee Madley," Keith Hackett noted in his observations on the game.
"A foul on Erling Haaland when the Palace player slides in, and his boot catches the striker high on his shin is a foul, but not reckless, and therefore not a yellow card offence."
In many respects this match seemed a reasonably easy one to officiate, though the 73rd minute saw one of the new laws brought in for the current campaign applied.
"A Crystal Palace substitution in the 73rd minute saw a new law applied as the Palace player took 24 seconds to leave the field of play," Hackett explained.
"The law states that if the player being substituted has not left the field of play within the 10 seconds, that they must still leave the field of play as quickly as possible, but the substitute is not permitted to enter the field of play and play restarts.
"The substitution cannot be cancelled, nor the substitute changed, and the substitute may only enter the field of play at the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed following the restart, and after receiving a signal from the referee.
"Clubs will have received a visit from PRORef to have the new changes discussed with the manager and players, but this is still a big wake-up call to clubs."
New boys reffed by new boy
The Coventry City vs Hull City match on Saturday wasn't just a battle of the Premier League new boys, but also a chance for referee Josh Smith to make his EPL bow.
"Good to see Josh Smith given his opportunity to officiate a Premier League game, and his yellow card in the 10th minute for a reckless challenge from Hull's Lewie Coyle was the right way to begin his career in the top flight," added Hackett.
A further four yellows were shown by the official in what was a feisty encounter that he did well to oversee.
Nottingham Forest had the chance to make it three wins in a row at Anfield, with Samuel Barrott the man in the middle for their fixture against Liverpool.
All of the early decisions were correct, including Florian Wirtz's goal being overturned by Michael Oliver in the VAR suite at Stockley Park.
A flurry of yellow cards highlighted the combative nature of the fixture, and whilst the officials were also on top of those, they missed a vital issue in the lead-up to a penalty for Forest.
Alisson to be charged?
"The ball came into the Liverpool area from a foul throw that was not picked up by the officials," Hackett noted.
"The thrower's right foot was in the air in the process of delivering the ball, though it was the correct decision to award a penalty when Alisson Becker upended his opponent in the area, for which he was rightly shown a yellow card.
"I anticipate Alisson will be charged by the FA for his misconduct, as, after leaving the field of play, he kicked out at the substitution board."
An early yellow card in the Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United fixture was regrettable but correct.
"Referee Peter Bankes is someone who likes to keep his yellow and red cards in his pocket, but he was left with no alternative after a reckless challenge from Micky van de Ven," Hackett suggested.
"Bankes delivered a good performance, showing an excellent standard of fitness, covering breaks with his ability to apply dynamic sprints. He can be very happy with his quality of decision-making.
"Michael Salisbury's low-key approach to the Sunderland vs Fulham encounter earned him some plaudits, whilst Craig Pawson and his team should also be very satisfied with their performance in the fixture at Old Trafford between Man Utd and Ipswich Town, despite the referee being out of position when a penalty was eventually awarded to the hosts."
Mistake at Leeds despite decent showing from Harrington
In the Leeds vs Brentford game, there were a few flashpoints for referee Tony Harrington to attend to, and apart from a mistake in the second-half, he sailed through the match with flying colours.
"Joe Rodon was spoken to by the referee, who gave him a warning to take care with his challenges. It was a good piece of officiating by an official that's certainly prepared to keep the game flowing by playing some good advantages," Hackett observed.
"I am surprised he didn't award a penalty kick to Brentford, however. There was a deliberate trip on an opponent, and I don't think you need to do a forensic check on the incident because it was clearly a foul."
Aside from seven goals, there was little for an experienced official like Michael Oliver to concern himself with at Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea ran out 4-3 winners over Brighton.
Keith Hackett's final thoughts
"The first few weeks of the Premier League season tend to follow a pattern of little conflict in refereeing decisions in the first four to six weeks. Law changes are worked in, and referees are at their fittest.
"Players and managers are bedding into the new season with a focus on tactics etc., then, after four or five games, we see the pressure mounting when teams are not meeting the expectations of their chairman and supporters.
"It's around this time that the blame culture starts to happen. Referees' performances and decision-making come to the fore, and the merry-go-round starts to spin.
"We saw a new manager unhappy that he could not make a substitution because that fourth official was attempting to input the numbers into the sub boards. Whilst he was doing that, his goalkeeper fouled the opponent and then conceded from the resulting penalty.
"The manager was right to complain, but in his post-match comments failed to point the finger in the right direction. This was not the fault of the fourth official, who was trying to overcome the problem.
"Andoni Iraola, it was your staff who failed to input the numbers. That is the club's responsibility, not the fourth official, who should be handed the board with the numbers showing."
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
