Craig Pawson has been appointed the referee to take charge of next month's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool.
The two sides will go head-to-head on May 14, facing off for the second time this season in a showpiece fixture at Wembley. Jurgen Klopp's side came out on top at the end of February during the final of the Carabao Cup, with Caoimhin Kelleher the hero as an 11-10 penalty shootout victory was secured.
Chelsea will be out for revenge on this occasion as they fight for the only remaining piece of silverware available to them this season, meanwhile the Reds will hope a win can keep alive hopes of a quadruple.
READ MORE: Liverpool striker banned for ten games after moment so shocking the Prime Minister intervened
READ MORE: Pau Torres sends double Champions League reminder to Liverpool ahead of Villareal tie
HAVE YOUR SAY: Rate the players after 4-0 win over Man Utd
Stuart Attwell was the man in the middle during the previous Wembley meeting by the sides, in a match not lacking controversial decisions, though Pawson has been handed the responsibility of an FA Cup final for the first time in his career. The FA confirmed the appointment on Thursday afternoon.
The 43-year-old took charge of Liverpool's quarter-final win over Nottingham Forest last month and became a FIFA-listed referee in 2015. Liverpool's record in games involving Pawson has been remarkably strong, losing only six of the 31 fixtures overseen by the Sheffield-born official.
However, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp laid the blame for Liverpool's first loss of the season against West Ham United back in November squarely at the door of Pawson. The German believed the Hammers' opener should have been chalked off, as well as claiming Pawson was wrong not to send off Aaron Cresswell for a dangerous tackle on Jordan Henderson.
He said: "I think it's a clear foul on Alisson, the arm from Ogbonna is here. The referee made it easy for himself and said 'that's see what the VAR is saying'. They said not clear and obvious - I don't know why - which is really strange. It's not man marking, it's blocking the goalkeeper.
"People will say I'm looking for excuses, I'm not. I accept we're not too good to lose football games. Today we lost it, that's not nice but I accept it. But when we speak about situations in a game you just need normal decisions from a referee. He didn't do that.
"The way I saw it (the Cresswell tackle on Henderson), it was a clear red card. No discussion possible. You cannot go like this into a challenge.
"But we cannot make these decisions obviously and I didn't know what the ref would say now, but in the game he looked confident his decisions were correct. It's all about the ref."
Before he added: "Not all refs, but he [Pawson] does. It's just the situation, he did that today definitely."
Michael Oliver, considered by many to be the leading figure for referees in England, was selected for last year's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leicester City, with Anthony Taylor officiating the 2020 showpiece fixture which saw Arsenal defeat Chelsea.
