Referee Mike Dean has been demoted to the Championship following a torrent of criticism over his recent performances.
The 48-year-old will be in the middle for the Yorkshire derby between Barnsley and Leeds at Oakwell on Saturday evening.
Dean has been the target of widespread criticism after a series of debatable decisions over the festive fixtures, and instead of refereeing a top-flight game this weekend he will spend a week in the second tier.
He sent off West Ham’s Sofiane Feghouli against Manchester United, only for the red card to later be rescinded. That game also featured a goal scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic while he appeared to be in an offside position.
The 48-year-old also controversially chose not to dismiss Everton’s Ross Barkley after a late challenge on Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson.
Dean has stayed out of the spotlight in his last two games — Tottenham’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa and Stoke’s league victory at Sunderland, but was still passed over for Premier League duty this weekend.
Writing about the decision to send off Feghouli, Sportsmail columnist and former Premier League referee Graham Poll was adamant that Dean would realise he had made a mistake.
‘Dean, as I wrote after his last game, is the referee happiest to take the biggest decisions and this was no exception,’ Poll wrote.
‘He will have believed he was right but when he watches this back he will know and accept that he was wrong.
‘What he might not accept is the suggestion that he appears to enjoy the attention. That is not good for any referee — and if anyone knows that, I do!’