PGMOL planning major rule change that would impact Arsenal’s chances next season

This could change everything for the Gunners.

The organisation's chief, former veteran Premier League referee Howard Webb, appeared on Sky Sports on Tuesday evening as part of the regularly scheduled Mic'd Up programme.

Webb was in attendance to discuss the thinking behind a number of controversial refereeing decisions made by Premier League officials, with the assistance of VAR, over the past few weeks.

First on the agenda was the clash between Arsenal and West Ham United on Sunday, and the decision by match official Chris Kavanagh — acting on the advice of VAR Darren England — to rule out a 95th minute Callum Wilson equaliser.

One of Wilson's teammates was ruled to have fouled shotstopper David Raya in the build-up, causing the goal to be ruled out.

After Webb shared the full audio discourse between Chris Kavanagh and Darren England that led to the goal's erasure, he was asked by host Michael Owen about the issue of players tussling and grappling within six-yard areas this season.

Following full-time on Sunday, a number of rival fans pointed to the fact that Arsenal have themselves been culprits of plenty of aggressive corner tactics throughout the campaign.

In the opening week of the season, Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a corner routine with a plausible similarity to Wilson's strike on Sunday.

Considering the theme of aggressive play during set-pieces has been ever-present throughout the 2025/26 season, Owen questioned Webb on whether the Premier League was considering any changes to rules during corner kicks, in order to help officials maintain more consistency next season.

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Speaking live on Sky Sports, Webb confirmed that discussions will soon be held about how to better police grappling at corners.

He said: "We consult all the time with the clubs, with the fan groups, with a range of other stakeholders about the type of game that they want to see and how they want us to officiate it.

"This season's been a little bit more unique than previous ones about the number of contacts in the penalty area, and it does create a challenge for the officials.

"We'll certainly continue consulting with all of the people I mentioned earlier about the type of game they want to see, because we have seen more involvement from set-piece coaches bringing players together in these areas, looking for those marginal gains.

"But we need to be vigilant. We need to identify those clear actions that are impactful.

"We've penalised more holding penalties than we did last year, but we've missed some as well."

It now remains to be seen what the outcome of the consultation is, and what kind of meaningful rule change it leads to.