Referee named for Liverpool's Premier League opener with Chelsea

Anthony Taylor will be the referee for Liverpool's first match of the Premier League season, the Premier League has confirmed.

The Reds' begin their 2023/24 campaign with a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Sunday, 13th of August at 16:30 BST.

The Premier League has confirmed that Manchester-born Taylor, 44, will be the match official in charge for the fixture.

Anthony Taylor record in Liverpool games

Taylor – who went to the 2022 World Cup and took charge of the 2022/23 Europa League final – officiated five Liverpool Premier League games in 2022/23, with the Reds not losing any. Those fixtures include the 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge back in April, as well as Liverpool's 1-0 home win over Champions Manchester City.

Taylor has only twice shown red cards to Liverpool players in all competitions since his first game officiating the Reds back in 2010/11.

The first was a straight red for goalkeeper Doni in the 3-2 win over Blackburn back in 2012, while the other was a double booking for Emre Can in the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal in 2015.

In addition, however, the referee also (famously) sent Jurgen Klopp to the stands last October during the bad-tempered victory over Manchester City.

After that game, Klopp said: "I explained after the game, in this moment you could not bring me in this mood. No chance. But the whole game led to that maybe a little bit,. The way it went, the way it was a very, very intense game with a lot of decisions which both managers didn't understand on both sides.

"I was sitting after the game in the office of Anthony Taylor and spoke, completely calmly, about all the situations. How I saw the game, how he saw the game. It was a completely calm discussion. That's the situation. I got a red card and now we wait for the process."

It's not the only time Taylor's officiating has gotten under the skin at Liverpool.

Speaking after the 1-0 win over Brentford in May, Cody Gakpo commented on Taylor's refereeing style, saying: “It was really difficult because it looked like whenever we went for a duel we fouled them. That’s a decision of the referee but it makes it really difficult to go into a challenge."

Taylor has awarded 11 penalties for the Reds, and six against in the Premier League.

Across all games in 2022/23 (not just Liverpool), Taylor averaged 3.86 yellow cards and 0.14 reds per game.