North London rivals Mauricio Pochettino and Arsene Wenger joined forces to criticise the decision to remove Kevin Friend from title-chasing Tottenham's crucial Premier League clash against Stoke. Friend was due to take charge of Tottenham's trip to the Britannia Stadium on Monday but was taken off the game after Spurs supporters protested on social media that the official was a fan of leaders Leicester. With Tottenham seven points behind Leicester in the title race, it was decided to avoid any suspicion of potential bias and Neil Swarbrick will now referee Tottenham's fixture, while Friend has been moved to Manchester United's game against Aston Villa.
