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The Premier League have confirmed the referee for Sunday’s Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea
The Premier League have announced that Anthony Taylor will officiate Sunday’s meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea - over two years on from his last game in charge of the derby between the two London sides.
Taylor refereed the dramatic 2-2 draw between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge back in August 2022. It is a fixture that is remembered for a fierce post-match handshake between Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel, who were in charge of the respective clubs at the time.
Harry Kane scored an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time but only after replays showed Cristian Romero had pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair. Taylor did not appear to get a good view of the incident while VAR neglected to recommend an on-field review. A year later, VAR official at the time Mike Dean admitted he did not correct the mistake to save Taylor from added “grief”.
"I missed the stupid hair pull at Chelsea versus Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view," Dean told Simon Jordan's Up Front podcast. "It's one of them where if I had my time again, what would I do? I'd send Anthony [Taylor] to the screen. I think I knew if I did send him to the screen… he's cautioned both managers, he's had a hell of a game, it's been such a tough game end to end. I said to Anthony afterwards: 'I just didn't want to send you to the screen after what has gone on in the game.' I didn't want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn't want to send him up because I didn't want any more grief than he already had."
Earlier in the game, Chelsea were incensed that Taylor had not penalised Rodrigo Bentancur for a tackle on Kai Havertz, resulting in a melee that saw both managers booked. Chelsea fans set up a petition for Taylor to never take charge of another game involving the Blues, with it gaining over 150,000 online signatures. Taylor has taken charge of two Chelsea games this season, the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on the opening day as well as the hard-fought 1-0 away win at Bournemouth. He has been the man in the middle for just one Spurs game this season, as he officiated the 4-0 victory over Everton back in August.
Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn will be Taylor’s assistants at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while the fourth official is Lewis Smith. Jarred Gillet will be on VAR with Mark Scholes his assistant at Stockley Park. The fixture kicks off at 4.30pm.
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