West Ham United will play host to Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

I don’t need to remind anyone associated with West Ham just how important the Premier League clash with Ipswich at the London Stadium is.

Julen Lopetegui is a man under pressure right now, and it has been claimed that the Spaniard’s job is already at risk.

Whilst I don’t necessarily believe that, it goes without saying that the Hammers must improve over the next month or so, if Lopetegui is to be given a chance by the fans and more importantly, the board.

West Ham have taken just five points from our opening six Premier League games, and with matches against Tottenham and Manchester United to come before the end of the month, Saturday’s clash with Ipswich really is a must-win.

Kieran McKenna’s side have looked very good at times this season, and I can guarantee you now that the Tractor Boys will be no pushover.

They are an extremely well-drilled outfit, and the West Ham players will need to be on top form, if they are to turn Ipswich over.

Ahead of the game, there has been a very interesting official announcement from the Premier League.

Controversial figure given important role for West Ham vs Ipswich

Nothing less than a win will do for the Hammers.

I want to see us start the game on the front foot. The West Ham players need to impose themselves onto the game and remind Ipswich that this is Premier League football – in other words, the big time.

The Premier League have just announced that Darren England will be on VAR duty for the big game at the London Stadium this weekend.

Fans of Premier League football will be very familiar with England.

The 38-year-old caused huge controversy back in September 2023 when he was on VAR duty for the Tottenham vs Liverpool clash.

Luis Diaz’s goal for the Reds was inexplicably ruled out when England told referee Simon Hooper ‘check complete’, in the belief that he was awarding the goal rather than chalking it off.

Since then, he has rarely been involved with VAR and has only refereed the odd Premier League game. He’s been the fourth official on a few occasions but now he will be tasked with watching the game from behind the screens.

Let’s hope that he doesn’t make another outlandish mistake during the West Ham vs Ipswich Town clash.

Who’s the referee for West Ham vs Ipswich

Anthony Taylor has been appointed as the referee for the huge game at the London Stadium.

He was the man who quite ridiculously sent off Vladimir Coufal during our clash with Arsenal at the Emirates in 2021.

It was arguably the worst call I have ever seen made in a Premier League game. Coufal made a tackle on Alexandre Lacazette and won the ball – he didn’t even go in with much force.

Inexplicably though, he was handed a second yellow card and given his marching orders. Arsenal were given a penalty and the rest is history – West Ham lost the game 2-0 in the end.

However, Taylor is widely considered to be one of the best two referees that we have in England, alongside Michael Oliver.

So hopefully the West Ham vs Ipswich game will pass without incident this weekend, and nobody will be talking about either Taylor or Darren England after the full-time whistle.

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