Mike Dean has been named as the referee for this weekend's North London Derby in the Premier League, and Arsenal fans are less than thrilled with the selection.
The Wirral-born Dean, who is set to officiate the game between Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates on Sunday, has gained an infamous reputation with Gooners who believe that he may have an agenda against them.
In the last 14 games that Dean has officiated Mauricio Pochettino's team, 11 of those were Spurs victories, the Lilywhites were awarded five penalties during that time.
He has earned a notorious legacy with Arsenal fans who have accused him of committing high-profile mistakes in recent outings.
Despite Dean having been in charge of the high-intensity derby last season that the Gunners won 2-0, Arsenal fans will be keen to not forget an instance in 2015 when the referee appeared to have celebrated a late Tottenham goal against Aston Villa.
As the ball hit the back of the Villa net, Dean ran towards the goalscorer with his arms outstretched – before quickly running away and dismissing his gesture as a "play on" gesture following contact with Mousa Dembele in the build-up to the goal.
Arsenal will head into this weekend's derby on a fine run of 17 games unbeaten, but their belief in the conspiracy that Dean is a secret Tottenham supporter has already begun to anger them following news of the referee appointment.
Gooners took to social media to vent their fury to voice their insistence that Dean carried a bias against their team.
I really don’t like complaining about referees, but given the history Mike Dean has with Arsenal, it is a shocking decision to select him to officiate a North London Derby.
— Moh Haider (@ArsenalMoh8) November 27, 2018
I won’t be surprised if Mike Dean hogs all the post game headlines. 😤
Ah mike dean, well this unbeaten run was fun while it lasted wasn’t it 😂😂
— Curtis (@curtis_harper) November 27, 2018
Mike Dean will take charge of the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham on Sunday...
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) November 27, 2018
Can't wait to see him wheeling away in delight when Harry Kane smashes one in from close-range.https://t.co/r83Mp1xKTK
Arsenal currently sit three points adrift of their North London rivals heading into the weekend, having registered two wins in their last five games.
