The Premier League have confirmed that Anthony Taylor will be in refereeing action over the next two matchweeks - but he will not officiate Chelsea after Thomas Tuchel was charged for comments he made about the referee.
Similarly, Mike Dean will have no involvement in the Blues' home game against Leicester on Saturday and trip to Southampton next Tuesday. Taylor and Dean are two names that cause much anger and frustration in the Blues fanbase following incidents in the dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham on August 14.
Paul Tierney will be the man in the middle for Chelsea's game against Leicester, with David Coote as the fourth official and Andre Marriner on VAR duty. Meanwhile, Michael Oliver is set to referee the Blues' clash with Saints, as Graham Scott takes the reins as the fourth official and Michael Salisbury is on VAR.
Dean, who was completely left out of last weekend's matches, is on VAR for Leeds' trip to Brighton on Saturday, while Taylor is the fourth official for Southampton's home game against Manchester United on Saturday and West Ham 's trip to Aston Villa the following day. Taylor will return as the referee for Bournemouth's clash with Wolves on August 31, with Dean the fourth official for Nottingham Forest's trip to Manchester City on the same night.
Tuchel has broken FA Rule E3 with his blast at Taylor and Dean in the four-goal thriller with Antonio Conte's side at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel was particularly frustrated with Taylor as he felt there was a foul on Kai Havertz in the lead-up to Spurs' first goal that went unpunished.
This was before Cristian Romero was then seen to pull Chelsea's new signing Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair inside the box - right in the view of Taylor - seconds before Harry Kane nodded home a late leveller. This led to a spiky post-match press conference from Tuchel, who was far from pleased with the referee's performance.
What did you make of Anthony Taylor's refereeing performance for Chelsea versus Tottenham? Have your say in the comments...
Asked if it was best if Taylor shouldn't referee Chelsea again, Tuchel replied: "Maybe it would be better. But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decisions. Since when can players be pulled at their hair? Since when is that? And if he does not see it, I don't blame him.
"I didn't see it, but we have people at VAR who check this and then you see it and then how can this not be a free-kick and how can it not be a red card? How?"
Tuchel then suggested there was a feeling Taylor was working against his side, with an online petition - which has reached 159,000 signatures - going viral in the hours after the full-time whistle. He added: "I don’t think that just some of the fans think that: I can assure you that the whole dressing room of us, every person thinks that. You know the players, they know what’s going on when they are on the pitch. They know it."
