The Magpies head to the Emirates Stadium looking for the points they need in the hunt for Champions League qualification, and Hooper has been appointed for the fixture as United bid to topple the Gunners and leapfrog them into second place.

The 43-year-old is a familiar figure to followers of Eddie Howe's side, having refereed four of their matches already this term. He was in the middle for the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in October, in which he booked Fabian Schär, Sandro Tonali and Sean Longstaff, before overseeing the 4-2 reverse at Brentford in December.

Schär was also yellow-carded by Hooper in the 2-0 win at Manchester United in the Magpies' final outing of 2024, while he also refereed the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg triumph over Arsenal in February.

The Swindon-born official has been a top flight referee since 2018, having spent a decade in the EFL prior to his promotion.

2024/25 stats

Games (all competitions): 29

Yellow cards issued: 131

Red cards issued: 2

Assistants

Assistant referees: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long

Fourth official: Andy Madley

VAR: Michael Salisbury

Assistant VAR: Marc Perry