Premier League confirm official Leeds United vs Chelsea appointment days after 'ridiculous' West Ham incident
Leeds United welcome Chelsea to Elland Road for their latest Premier League clash on Wednesday.
The Premier League have announced their latest round of referee appointments with Darren England to take charge of Leeds United vs Chelsea.
Leeds welcome Enzo Maresca’s Blues to Elland Road on Wednesday evening looking to bounce back from four consecutive defeats. The Whites were beaten 3-2 by Manchester City last time out but can take hope from a spirited second-half performance in which they fought back from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2.
Substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha both scored and Leeds looked set for a great point, but for Phil Foden’s 91st-minute winner. Defeat leaves Daniel Farke’s side in the relegation zone, below West Ham on goals scored, but any result on Wednesday would pull them out for 24 hours at least, with the Hammers at Manchester United on Thursday.
Midweek visitors Chelsea drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal on Sunday, despite going down to 10 men inside 38 minutes, and currently sit third in the Premier League. They will be without Moises Caicedo, whose straight red card in that victory earned him a three-game ban.
Ahead of Wednesday’s clash, the Premier League have confirmed the appointment of England to take charge at Elland Road. He will be assisted by Scott Ledger and Akil Howson, with Josh Smith between the dugouts as fourth official and Paul Howard on VAR duties.
England has taken charge of eight Premier League fixtures so far this season, blowing for 21.13 fouls and brandishing 3.75 yellow cards per game on average according to WhoScored. The experienced referee is yet to be involved when Leeds are playing and has taken charge of one Chelsea game, that being a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace in August.
Leeds United v Chelsea referee’s major weekend incident
England was at the centre of one of last weekend’s major talking points, however, although for once it was not the referee’s decision that went under the microscope. Wednesday’s official was in charge of Liverpool’s 2-0 win at West Ham on Sunday and brandished his first red card of the season in quite incredible circumstances.
With his side 1-0 down at the time, West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta was shown two yellow cards for dissent within seconds of one another. The Brazilian was initially booked for an initial reaction before persistently protesting with England while others attempted to pull him away.
England also attempted to move away from the situation but after continuing to be verbally targeted by Paqueta, flashed a second yellow card which was followed by a red. Sky sports Co-commentator and former Hammers goalkeeper Rob Green labelled the reaction ‘ridiculous behaviour’.
Paqueta, who was cleared of spot-fixing charges in July following a two-year investigation, re-posted a snippet on X from Sky Sports including the comment, replying: “It’s ridiculous to have your life and career affected for two years without any psychological support from the federation. Perhaps this ridiculous behaviour is just a reflection of everything I’ve had to endure and, it seems, have to continue enduring! I’m sorry if I’m not perfect.”