Much of the weekend was always going to be overshadowed by the goings-on at Anfield, as Man City played their first match since being found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules.
Pressure on Liverpool vs Man City officials
Certainly, the expected white-hot atmosphere would put immediate pressure on Chris Kavanagh and his assistants.
"There had been a huge amount of coverage in the media following the guilty verdict, and that raised the temperature of the game and the noise volume inside Anfield," Hackett noted.
"The first thirty minutes were very scrappy, with referee Kavanagh keeping a lid on things thanks to some astute interventions.
"Every single time Manchester City had possession, the home crowd broke into boos and shouts of derision, and when Ryan Gravenberch received a yellow card early in the second half after catching Elliot Anderson, chants of 'cheat' followed, but the Liverpool midfielder can have few complaints.
"When he was then sent off, he had to be aware of avoiding the type of challenge on his opponent that left the official with no choice but to award another yellow card.
"If Jeremy Doku had got the ball, he could've driven at the heart of the Liverpool defence, so it was the correct decision from a referee who kept a tight grip on proceedings, and can't be accused of being inconsistent."
Sam Barrott making a name for himself
Another game where the referee earned praise was at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea hosted Bournemouth.
Sam Barrott, a 34-year-old Yorkshireman, has only been officiating since 2024, but is already carving out a real name for himself.
"It was another first-class showing by Sam Barrott, who adopted an efficient and low-key stance throughout, which allowed the game to flow," Hackett enthused.
Huge error from VAR
Though Thomas Bramall and his assistants worked well for the most part in the Sunderland v Brighton game, VAR Neil Davies made a huge error in recommending a review of a potential red card incident involving Pascal Struijk and Wilson Isidor. It overshadowed what had otherwise been an efficient showing.
"The red card was incorrectly issued," Hackett suggested. "Struijk was the last man, and there was contact with Isidor; however, in my opinion, the ball would've gone through to the advancing goalkeeper.
"VAR was wrong to intervene and recommend a review for a red card, because this was not a clear and obvious error. There was no obvious goalscoring opportunity due to Isidor being very unlikely to get to the ball before the goalkeeper."
Check out the match stats here.
Attwell did well at Old Trafford
Over at Old Trafford, Man Utd were taking on Tottenham Hotspur in what was once a Premier League classic, but on Sunday it was a match between two teams badly struggling for form.
The start of the 2026/27 campaign had already been the worst since 1992 for Michael Carrick's side, whilst Roberto De Zerbi still hadn't won a league game in the current season with the North Londoners.
"Harry Maguire was pulled down by Spurs' Conor Gallagher, leaving referee Stuart Attwell with little option but to correctly issue a yellow card," Hackett added.
"In the opening 15 minutes of the game, Attwell demonstrated high levels of fitness and a great explosive sprint in order to maintain contact with play, as well as enforcing the law in a strict and consistent manner.
"I do like the fact that he is also penalising upper body fouls, those holding offences that many referees ignore. Hopefully the players will get the message and refrain from this type of spoiling offence."
Attwell's assistants on the day had a somewhat up-and-down 90 minutes.
"There was a clear foul on Matheus Cunha right in front of the assistant referee, who should have come to the aid of Attwell because he wasn't in a good position to judge the incident," Hackett observed.
"At least the eagle-eyed assistant correctly ruled that the ball was out of play before United had it in the net in the 55th minute."
The major flashpoint in the particular match came in the 78th minute when Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur looked to have lost his head.
"Attwell and his video assistant referee Jarred Gillett handled this confrontation extremely well," Hackett said. "The official gave himself some thinking time and space before a consultation via his headset and the taking of appropriate action.
"He correctly red-carded Bentancur for the illegal use of his forehead on Luke Shaw, whilst Shaw himself was yellow-carded after reacting to Bentancur's reckless challenge on a United teammate.
"Jan Paul van Hecke, Bruno Fernandes, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot all correctly received yellow cards over the course of the rest of the game, and I do think that Attwell can be very satisfied with his performance, maintaining control throughout and correctly dealing with the mass confrontation in a textbook manner."
Tetchy times at Villa Park
Over at Villa Park, experienced official Craig Pawson needed eyes in the back of his head to be able to keep a lid on the Aston Villa v Brentford fixture.
"It was a difficult first half for the referee, with some unacceptable foul challenges, particularly the one on John McGinn, which was a clear yellow card offence," Hackett noted.
"A proper battle with tackles flying in meant that the yellow cards dished out were inevitable. Even off the pitch, there was a fair amount of fiery words exchanged between the two technical areas.
"Michael Kayode brought down Nicolas Jackson right on the edge of the penalty area, and though it could've been the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity, VAR Peter Bankes agreed with Pawson's yellow card assessment. Great refereeing.
"Kristoffer Ajer went into the book late on for his dissent to the referee, as did Callum Wilson and Bees boss Keith Andrews. It was that type of game."
Tierney and his assistants were spot on at the Emirates
In order for Arsenal to keep pace with Man City at the top of the Premier League table, they needed to beat an in-form Leeds United side at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Paul Tierney was tasked with the responsibility of overseeing that game, and despite the moans and groans from the Gunners bench in the first half, the official and his assistants were spot on in their decision-making.
"In the first 33 minutes of this game, Arsenal were judged offside five times," Hackett added. "You would've thought that the players would be looking across the line to avoid an offside that the officials got correct on each occasion.
"Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu were correctly yellow carded, although Bruno Guimaraes should have had a yellow card for diving into the crowd to celebrate his first goal at the Emirates."
Matt Crooks gets fourth yellow in four games
During the Hull City v Everton match, referee Michael Salisbury also delivered a decent enough performance, and he and his team can be pleased that they got all the major decisions correct.
"Matt Crooks was rightly yellow-carded for a late reckless lunge on Jack Grealish, and he's now received a booking in all four of the games he's played in this season. He's heading for a ban, and perhaps his manager should offer him some operational advice to improve his challenges," Hackett argued.
"Brennan Johnson looked to have opened his account for the Toffees as the game edged towards half-time, but VAR Timothy Wood intervened.
"VAR had a look as Thierno Barry went up for the challenge with Konstantinos Tzolakis and the Hull keeper fumbled the ball.
The ball broke to Johnson, who was in an offside position before he found the net. Michael Salisbury was sent to the screen for a look, and the goal was correctly disallowed."
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
