The Premier League has confirmed the match officials for Chelsea’s home game with Brentford on Sunday
The Premier League have confirmed that Peter Bankes will officiate Sunday’s meeting between Chelsea and Brentford at Stamford Bridge. The Blues host their West London rivals at 7pm on Sunday, with the game kicking off in the evening after Chelsea's 16-hour round trip to Kazakhstan.
The Blues were in UEFA Europa Conference League action against Astana on Thursday and faced a longer flight time due to the plane not being able to take a direct route as it could not fly over conflict zones in Ukraine, Russia and Syria. Given the extended nature of an already-long away trip, the Premier League agreed to push the London derby back from the usual slot of 2pm on Sunday.
Bankes has taken charge of 10 Chelsea games in his career, with the Blues winning six, drawing three and losing once. He has been in charge of Brentford 19 times, with the Bees picking up seven victories, seven draws and five loses in those fixtures. This season, he has taken charge of eight Premier League fixtures. He has produced an average of four yellow cards per game and given just over 18 fouls per 90 minutes.
He was in charge for Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of September, awarding a 28th-minute penalty to Enzo Maresca’s side. The spot-kick was converted by Cole Palmer. Sunday’s match will be the first time he has officiated a Brentford game this season. Ian Hussin and Nick Greenhalgh will be his assistants while Rob Jones is the fourth official. Matt Donohue will be the VAR with Dan Robathan his assistant.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said ahead of the game: “I like to convince myself and the players that the only way to fight for something or compete for something is to be focused on the day-to-day. If you start to think one month, two months, three months ahead, it’s the beginning of a bad time. The good thing is I like to think day by day. This is not something I say because I have to say it, I really think it's the way to improve myself and also my players. Just focus on what we can do better in terms of our training session or improving players and the team. Then at what moment can we think of something different? I don't know.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank also spoke ahead of the weekend: “I expect an interesting game with two good teams. They are maybe the best team in the Premier League right now. They are maybe even more in-form than Liverpool, even though they are top of the league. They are playing incredible football and are well-coached. [Enzo] Maresca has done a top job so far with his coaching staff and they look extremely dangerous. They have so many threats going forward and have top-quality players all over the pitch. I expect an unbelievably difficult game. They are massive favourites but, of course, we believe that we can compete against anyone and we believe we can win."
Man City travel to Aston Villa on Saturday desperate for victoryCityzens fell further into crisis with late Manchester derby defeatVillans hoping to further punish miserable Man City formManchester City make the challenging trip to Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League as they desperately look to end their three-game winless run.Last weekend's late and embarrassing defeat to local rivals M...
Team newsCrystal Palace will be without Eberechi Eze, who injured his hip in the midweek EFL defeat by Arsenal.Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton are still sidelined because of groin injuries, with neither expected to feature again in 2024.Defender Daniel Munoz, who served an EFL Cup ban in midweek, is again suspended as a result of accumulating five yellow cards in the Premier League.Arsenal midfiel...
After their dreams of EFL Cup stardom crashed and burned in midweek, Brentford make a welcome return to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, when Nottingham Forest visit for a Premier League battle.Thomas Frank's men fell to a 3-1 loss to Newcastle United in Wednesday's cup quarter-final, while the Garibaldi pulled off a tremendous late turnaround to sink Aston Villa 2-1 last weekend.Away days...
Looking to enjoy a top-flight success in front of their East Anglian faithful for the first time this season, Ipswich Town will welcome Newcastle United to Portman Road on Saturday afternoon for a Premier League clash.The Tractor Boys delivered a significant blow in the survival race last weekend by downing Wolverhampton Wanderers in the West Midlands, whilst the Magpies have enjoyed a pair of pro...
Vincent Kompany will hope his Bayern Munich side can take a huge step towards the Bundesliga title when they welcome RB Leipzig to Allianz Arena on Friday.Bayern lead the way in the top flight with 33 points after 14 matchweeks, but they lost for the first time in the league when they were beaten 2-1 by Mainz 05 on December 14, while Die Roten Bullen are fourth with 27 points and defeated Eintrach...
With their Serie A title hopes all but ended before reaching halfway, AC Milan hope to boost their pursuit of a top-four finish when they visit Hellas Verona on Friday evening.While Milan have slumped into mid-table following a run of one win from five, Verona ended a run of four straight defeats with victory last time out.Now 11 points behind arch-rivals Inter Milan and 13 shy of Serie A leaders ...
Girona will be bidding to halt a four-game losing run in all competitions when they continue their La Liga campaign with a clash against struggling Real Valladolid on Friday night.The hosts will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Mallorca, while Real Valladolid moved off the bottom of the La Liga table courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Valencia last time out.Girona will bring a six-game ...
Lille will look to avoid a potential cup shock when they travel to third-tier Rouen in the round of 64 of the Coupe de France on Friday night.Bruno Genesio's side are currently 16 games unbeaten in all competitions, but face a team that have been rejuvenated since the arrival of manager Regis Brouard.This fixture has the potential to become one of the biggest stories of the weekend if Lille slip u...
Eyupspor will be eager to retain their place in the top four as they face Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super Lig round 17 at Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium on Friday.It will be the first meeting between both sides in over eight decades, with the hosts welcoming one of the most successful clubs in the country to their home for the first time in the top flight.Eyupspor are enjoying a solid start to their...
Enzo Maresca has said that Chelsea believe Mykhailo Mudryk is innocent following his positive drugs test and will continue to "support" the player.Mudryk and Chelsea released statements on Tuesday confirming that the FA had been in contact over the Ukraine winger supplying an adverse urine sample, with both player and club expressing their surprise.Head coach Maresca faced the media for the first ...
