Atkinson, who also took charge of the Magpies’ friendly defeat to FC Augsburg last weekend, will be the man in the middle of United’s opening game of the 2018/19 campaign.

The 47-year-old refereed a total of 33 domestic fixtures last season, including three Newcastle games. He oversaw the 1-0 defeat to Everton in November, the 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town in March and the 3-0 final-day win over Chelsea, all of which came at St. James’ Park.

Over the course of the entire 2017/18 campaign, the Yorkshire official showed a total of 133 yellow cards and also issued five reds.

He will be assisted by Lee Betts and Stephen Child on Saturday, while Paul Tierney will be the fourth official.