Stuart Attwell will referee Saturday night’s Premier League West London derby between Brentford and Chelsea at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Unbeaten Chelsea head into the fourth wave of matches second in the table behind leaders Liverpool with seven points to their name, while Brentford are still adjusting to life under boss Keith Andrews, who has one win in his three league games to date.
Chelsea have already benefited from a couple of contentious VAR calls this season, including the disallowing of Eberechi Eze’s free-kick for Crystal Palace and the decision not to award Josh King’s goal for Fulham.
As for Attwell, he’s been busy this season, having already dished out 12 yellow cards and awarded two penalties across two Premier League games, which saw Everton beat Brighton 2-0 and Crystal Palace thrash Aston Villa 3-0 at Villa Park.
Attwell’s most infamous moment was the Vicarage Road “ghost goal” in 2008, when he remarkably awarded a goal to Reading against Watford for a ball that in fact did not cross the line. In fairness, the bewildering blunder actually came from his linesman. Let’s hope there’s not a repeat of this on Saturday!
Read More: Brentford vs Chelsea predictions, odds, betting tips and team news
Attwell vs Brentford Record
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 20 |
| Wins | 10 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Defeats | 8 |
| League Points | 32 |
| Penalties Per Game | 0.20 |
| Yellow Cards Per Game | 1.3 |
| Reds Per Game | 0.10 |
Brentford have won 10 of the 20 matches officiated by Stuart Attwell, most recently in January’s 5-0 thrashing away to Southampton. Prior to this, the Bees had lost three on the spin under Attwell’s watch.
He has shown red to two Brentford players during his career. The first came all the way back in a League Two fixture in 2009 when he sent Nathan Elder off after eight minutes, and the second was in a 4-1 FA Cup loss to Swansea during the 2018/19 season when Ezri Konsa was dismissed.
Notably, Attwell has yet to send off a player from the opposition in any Brentford match.
Attwell vs Chelsea Record
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 25 |
| Wins | 7 |
| Draws | 12 |
| Defeats | 6 |
| League Points | 31 |
| Penalties Per Game | 0.14 |
| Yellow Cards Per Game | 2.12 |
| Reds Per Game | 0.04 |
Chelsea have only won seven of the 25 matches Attwell has officiated and during December 2020 and May 2023 they claimed only one win in 13 games. However, the Blues have taken 10 points from Attwell’s last four, most recently the 2-2 draw against Ipswich in April.
The club averages 2.12 yellows per game under Attwell, who previously oversaw Chelsea’s 2021/22 League Cup final against Liverpool, which they lost 11-10 on penalties.
Cesar Azpilicueta remains the only Chelsea player to be sent off by Attwell after he was shown a straight red for a foul on Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish in the final game of the 2020/21 season.