Referee Anthony Taylor will take charge of Chelsea’s game against Liverpool next week.
The match official hasn’t beemn in the middle for a Blues game since the 2-2 draw against Tottenham back in August, which saw then manager Thomas Tuchel fined £20,000 for his comments about Taylor‘s poor refereeing. Fans on Twitter are understandably unhappy that he has been given another Chelsea fixture:
We're done for
— Hamza (@HamzaArsyn) March 27, 2023
No No No😭
— MaNdlo (@OctaviandlovuN) March 27, 2023
Where is the petition 😖
— Saint Pablo (@Devonte_05) March 27, 2023
-3 Points for Chelsea
— Taiwo Bamidele (@taiwobamidele29) March 27, 2023
Oh boy……
— Brent (@brentjustin96) March 27, 2023
This is laughable
— In my Football Opinion (@AcretionDisc2) March 27, 2023
We're finished
— Eddi⚡ (@PhenonEddi) March 27, 2023
Surely not….i mean really? With Chris on VAR?
— PV (@Pierre_Visser7) March 27, 2023
There goes the less than 5% chance Chelsea had to win the game
— Jay (@rukeji) March 27, 2023
GAME OVER.
— Bar (@csgo_bar) March 27, 2023
The Spurs match was not the first time that the Blues have had a run-in with Taylor. He sent off Reece James for a handball in a draw against Liverpool at the start of last season, and he gave Mateo Kovacic his marching orders in the FA Cup final a year earlier.
With the clash versus the Reds taking place at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday, Taylor’s performance will be closely scrutinised. Any calls that go against Graham Potter’s side will be put under the microscope but, hopefully, he officiates the game even-handedly.