The Football Association have now announced the Match Day officials that will take charge of the game between Manchester United and Derby County this Friday.
Manchester United host Derby County on Friday January 5 for the FA Cup Third Round tie at Old Trafford and the match carries an 8pm kick off.
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant Refs: Michael McDonough and Neil Davies
Fourth Official: David Coote
Match Day referee Friend has officiated 17 games in 2017/18, showing 40 yellow cards and one red card so far.
He took in 32 games in 2016/17 with a return of 127 yellow cards and two red cards.
That season his highest card count was nine yellows in the game between Swansea City and Crystal Palace.
He took in 31 matches in 2015-16 and in those games, across all competitions and football divisions, he handed out a total of 100 yellow cards and six red cards.
He was most card happy in the match between Liverpool and West Ham on August 29 with a total of six yellows being shown and two reds. He also showed seven yellows and one red in the game between Bournemouth and Sunderland on September 19. He finally reached eight yellows in the Preston v Burnley game in April.
Let`s hope it`s not another repeat and more of the players edge closer to automatic bans.
