Chelsea and Manchester United face off in the Premier League on Saturday at 8pm, with Michael Oliver set to referee.
This will be Oliver’s 25th Premier League game as a referee this season, with only Anthony Taylor set to have taken charge of more. Six of those games have included either Chelsea or Man Utd, with three matches for each club.
Oliver has also overseen an FA Cup final between these two sides. Chelsea were the 1-0 victors in 2018, with Eden Hazard scoring after Oliver awarded the Blues a penalty midway through the first half.
This is a crucial battle in the quest for a top-five finish. Man Utd sit third, seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea.
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Michael Oliver’s Chelsea record
This game will be Oliver’s 60th Chelsea match as a referee. They hold a spot in the top five of his most-refereed teams. The Blues have a patchy history with Oliver, winning 27 of the 59 matches while also losing 17. Chelsea have been shown 98 yellow cards across the 59 games so far, but they have also received three reds. That’s compared to six red cards against them, though. Chelsea have also been awarded eight penalties by Oliver, while conceding three.
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 59 |
| Wins | 27 |
| Draws | 15 |
| Defeats | 17 |
| League points | 81 |
| Penalties per game | 0.14 |
| Yellow cards per game | 1.66 |
| Red cards per game | 0.05 |
What happened when Michael Oliver last refereed Chelsea?
Oliver was the man in the middle for Chelsea’s draw with Manchester City at the Etihad at the start of the year. It was a pretty uneventful game aside from the six yellow cards, with three for each team. And one of those yellow cards went to Enzo Fernandez for taking his shirt off in celebration of a late equaliser.
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Michael Oliver’s Man Utd record
Oliver has refereed Man Utd 50 times so far, and fans won’t really be happy to see him. The Red Devils have only won 20 of their 50 games with Oliver in the middle so far, losing 17. More crucially, Man Utd have received five red cards for Oliver, all for two yellow cards. Only two of their opponents have been sent off. And, despite the fact that Oliver has awarded eight penalties to Man Utd, he has also given seven against them.
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 50 |
| Wins | 20 |
| Draws | 13 |
| Defeats | 17 |
| League points | 67 |
| Penalties per game | 0.16 |
| Yellow cards per game | 2.06 |
| Red cards per game | 0.10 |
What happened when Michael Oliver last refereed Man Utd?
Oliver’s last Man Utd game was an eventful one. He oversaw their 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, which saw the visitors reduced to 10 men. Cristian Romero was sent off for a bad challenge on Casemiro, a decision made by Oliver. And it was the correct one. Outside of that, Oliver booked two Tottenham players and one Man Utd man.
What should we expect from Michael Oliver?
Despite refereeing 24 games so far this season, Oliver has only awarded two penalties. He has also sent just two players off. Oliver is the second-most lenient referee in the Premier League this season, averaging 3.0 cards per game. And he also ranks second for fouls per card at 7.5. Only Craig Pawson is more lenient than Oliver.