Chelsea’s European fate for next season will be decided in 90 minutes on Sunday via the final Premier League game of the season.
The Blues make the trip to fellow hopefuls Nottingham Forest, knowing a win will secure their place in the Champions League for the upcoming campaign.
Enzo Maresca has the issue of not having a recognised striker available for the huge game following Nicolas Jackson’s suspension.
However, he will be buoyed by the news that Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu are expected to be fit. The latter has not been in action since the start of February.
Chelsea supporters will be hoping to have as little to worry about as possible when it comes to outside factors having an impact on the game.
Anthony Taylor appointed referee for Chelsea’s clash with Nottingham Forest
However, the official Premier League announcement for the matchday officials will cause some concern.
Anthony Taylor has been appointed the referee for the game at the City Ground, with Gary Beswick and Adrian Nunn as linesmen. Peter Bankes will be in charge of VAR.
Chelsea’s run ins with the English referee have been well-documented over the past few seasons. Thiago Silva has shown public distain for Taylor on a number of occasions.
Even going back into the archives, Jose Mourinho was furious at the referee when he was in charge of a fixture against Southampton back in 2014.
Chelsea’s record in games officiated by Anthony Taylor this season
Despite all the negative feelings from Chelsea towards Taylor, their record with him as the referee this season is far more positive than many would think.
He was in charge of the opening day defeat to Manchester City, however since then the Blues have won all three games he was in charge of.
This included a narrow win over Bournemouth, despite scrutiny for Taylor for the record-breaking amount of bookings he gave out to both sides.
Taylor has given Maresca two bookings so far this season, with him recently serving a suspension following the acquisition of three across the campaign.
