QPR vs Sunderland: Who is the referee?

All that you need to know about the referee for Sunderland's Championship fixture against QPR.

Christopher Kavanagh will take charge of Sunderland's Championship clash with QPR at Loftus Road. 

He will be assisted by Dan Cook and Daniel Robathan, with Will Finnie acting as fourth official. 

Kavanagh has a wealth of experience officiating in the Premier League, with 111 appearances in the English top flight. 

He has also taken to the European stage in his career, with four appearances in the Europa League and two in Champions League qualifiers. 

Covering two International friendlies, three games in the UEFA Nations League, as well as a European Championship qualifier between Moldova and Albania, Kavanagh brings international experience to his officiating. 

Christopher Kavanagh's Sunderland record

Kavanagh has officiated four Sunderland games in his career so far, and the Black Cats are yet to win with him in the middle, losing three and drawing one. 

Three of those four appearances came in the 17/18 season. Two in the Championship - a 3-0 loss to Barnsley and a 2-2 draw to Preston - while the other was a 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough in the FA cup. 

Aiden McGeady appealing to Kavanagh for a foul in the Championship game against Preston. 

The only other game where Kavanagh has overseen Sunderland was in the 16/17 season, where they lost 1-0 to Southampton in the fourth round of the EFL cup.

During the match, Sunderland manager, David Moyes, was sent to the stands by Kavanagh after an exchange of words with fourth official James Adcock.

The incident that caused the outrage from the Sunderland gaffer was when Southampton defender, Maya Yoshida, brought down Victor Anichebe in the penalty area. 

This warranted a penalty shout from Sunderland fans and the technical area, but challenge was waved away by Kavanagh. 

Kavanagh sending David Moyes to the stands at St Mary's Stadium. 

After the game, Moyes admitted that the decision to banish him out of the technical area was justified, although believed it was a "stone-waller penalty kick." 

Kavanagh's overall record this season

Games: 12
Yellow cards: 46
Red cards: 0
Penalties awarded: 4
Cards per game: 3.83

Sunderland will be hoping to end their winless run with Kavanagh in the middle when they play QPR this Tuesday night. 

The Black Cats will be looking to continue their play-off surge against an out of form QPR side at Loftus Road. 

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