THE Premier League have announced that referee Chris Kavanagh will take charge of Palace's match against Aston Villa.

Patrick Vieira's side will travel to Villa Park for the fixture on Sunday afternoon in a game which could be decisive in the race for a spot in the top half of the table.

Palace are currently sitting in 10th, one point ahead of the Villans. However, Steven Gerrard's side does have a game in hand which will be played against Liverpool tonight.

Whatever the result of that match is, a win in the match for Palace will see them end the game week in the top half and potentially as high as 9th as they have a superior goal difference to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The referee has been confirmed as Kavanagh and Palace have a mixed record when he has been in charge of their matches.

Out of the three games that Kavanagh has officiated Palace have won one, drawn one and lost one. The last game was in fact the win, which came in the shape of a 4-1 thrashing of Leeds last season.

Kavanagh will be assisted by Harry Lennard and Nick Hopton. The fourth official for the match will be Martin Atkinson and VAR will be controlled by David Coote and his assistant James Mainwaring.

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