Nottingham Forest seemingly have a love-hate relationship with referees in the Premier League.
Evangelos Marinakis was fined £750,000 for a post on social media the season before last, following three embarrassing decisions during a game against Everton.
Last season, Nuno Espirito Santo was banned from the touchline for three matches for his antics in a 2-2 draw with Brentford.
Thankfully, things did improve a little bit in that sense last season, with Forest avoiding too many bad decisions as the season progressed and ended with the team finishing seventh.
On Sunday, Forest endured some inconsistencies with the handball law and now the referee for Sunday’s crunch game with Crystal Palace has been announced.
And, it’s not good news…
Premier League referee Anthony Taylor
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Referee announced for Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest
Back when Espirito Santo received his ban for his words towards the fourth official against Brighton last season, the official in question was Anthony Taylor.
Now, the Forest head coach will have to be on his best behaviour again this weekend with the Manchester-based official set to take charge of proceedings at Selhurst Park.
Taylor took charge of the Premier League curtain-raiser between Liverpool and Bournemouth on Friday night and he’s heading back down south again this weekend.
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Forest will hope to take advantage of Palace playing in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday when they meet the Eagles in a game which they will almost certainly be bang up for.
Anthony Taylor record on Forest games
Since Forest returned to the Premier League, Taylor has taken charge of 11 games involving the Reds.
It doesn’t bode well that only two of those games ended in a win for Forest, with Taylor overseeing the 1-0 win over Arsenal in 2022/23 and last season’s 3-2 victory over Southampton.
Still, Forest have to focus on their own task in hand and with a plethora of new players expected in the squad this weekend, the excitement levels will be high.
Forest have to be ready for a Palace team that will be smarting from their Europa League place being given to the Reds and a hostile atmosphere awaits.
Hopefully, Taylor keeps the fuss to a minimum and both Espirito Santo and Morgan Gibbs-White can avoid his radar.