Nottingham Forest will see their game against Wolves on Saturday refereed by Chris Kavanagh. The match official will take charge at the City Ground for the first time this season, with Forest in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory.
Last time out, Kavanagh had an eventful contest. He took charge of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester United and Fulham; showing red cards to Willian, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Cottagers boss Marco Silva during the game.
It was a game that showed the ugly side of abuse to referees. Mitrovic is currently serving a three-match ban for his red card but after manhandling Kavanagh, he’s likely to be hit with a more lengthy ban for his antics at Old Trafford.
You have to go someway back to find the last Forest game refereed by Kavanagh. Forest beat Huddersfield 2-0 in September 2021 and that’s the last time that the Greater Manchester-based official has overseen a Reds game.
This season, Kavanagh has taken charge of 17 games. During those outings, he’s shown 55 yellow cards and his two on-field dismissals in the FA Cup clash last time out were his first of the season.
Forest should be in safe hands at the weekend. Kavanagh is a FIFA official and has taken charge of games in the Europa League during the current campaign.
Forest game against Wolves to be refereed by Chris Kavanagh
The 37-year-old is relatively young in terms of being a Premier League and FIFA match official. He’s a burgeoning talent on the PGMOL’s books and that bodes well.
Kavanagh has taken charge of big games before and he’s well-equipped to keep a lid on City Ground proceedings at the weekend.
The referee has been on the Premier League since 2017. Perhaps more worryingly is Forest’s record when Kavanagh has taken charge of them.
Last season’s win over Huddersfield was the only Forest win he’s overseen; with three games he’s reffed ending in a draw and five coming with the Reds losing.