Brighton v Newcastle United official decision made - It's not likely to go down well with either group of fans
Newcastle United take on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex on Saturday in an old-fashioned 3 pm non-televised kick-off.
The international break is finally ending, and we can get back to some Premier League action after 18 weeks without it (okay, two, but my lord, this one has dragged).
It may be something to do with the fact that Newcastle just started to build up momentum with back-to-back wins, and then the fortnight break hit like a truck.
Hopefully, the spirit and belief that was coursing through the players as they beat Nottingham Forest last time out is still there.
Craig Pawson tried three times to give Newcastle a penalty in this fixture last season
It may not matter how much belief the Magpies have; however, Craig Pawson has been selected as the man in the middle for Saturday's game, and he has a nice habit of making the game all about him.
The last time Pawson was in charge of a Brighton game was this very fixture last season, where the 46-year-old went quite mad.
Pawson awarded three penalties to Newcastle in that game, with two of them being overturned by VAR. The third one stood and was converted by Alexander Isak to rescue a point for the Magpies.
Craig Pawson upset Newcastle fans by not sending off Mats Wieffer for a second bookable offence
Also during that game, Pawson failed to send off Mats Wieffer after the Dutchman was already on a yellow card, and he brought down Sandro Tonali, which should have seen him pick up his second.
Wieffer was substituted moments later, causing outrage among Newcastle fans.
So neither set of fans is going to be overly happy with the Premier League's decision here. Hopefully, Pawson has his head on straight on Saturday.
