Since Thomas Tuchel was charged for remarks he made regarding the referee, Anthony Taylor will not officiate Chelsea during the next two match weeks, according to the Premier League.
The Blues’ games against Leicester at home on Saturday and Southampton away on Tuesday will both be without Mike Dean. Following incidents in the dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham on August 14, the Blues fans found the names Taylor and Dean to be two of the most annoying and irritating.
For Chelsea’s match versus Leicester, Paul Tierney will serve as the middle man, with David Coote serving as the fourth official and Andre Marriner acting as the VAR. While Graham Scott takes over as the fourth official and Michael Salisbury is on VAR, Michael Oliver is scheduled to officiate the match between the Blues and Saints.
Taylor will serve as the fourth official for Southampton’s game against Manchester United at home on Saturday and West Ham’s travel to Aston Villa the following day, while Dean, who was entirely absent from last weekend’s game, will serve as VAR for Leeds’ trip to Brighton on Saturday.
On August 31, Taylor will officiate Bournemouth’s match against Wolves once more, with Dean serving as the fourth official for Nottingham Forest’s trip to Manchester City the same evening.
In the four-goal thriller against Antonio Conte’s team at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel violated FA Rule E3 by throwing a punch at Taylor and Dean. Tuchel was especially irate with Taylor because, in his eyes, a foul on Kai Havertz that occurred before the Spurs’ first goal went unnoticed.
Before Cristian Romero pulled Chelsea’s recruit Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair inside the box, in Taylor’s direct line of sight, and just before Harry Kane nodded in a late leveler. This resulted in a heated post-game press conference from Tuchel, who was not happy with the referee’s performance.
After the full-time whistle, an internet petition that has collected 159,000 signatures spread like wildfire, according to Tuchel, who claimed there was a perception that Taylor was working against his team.
