Manchester City and Chelsea face off in the Premier League on Sunday at 5:30pm, with Michael Oliver appointed as the referee.
Oliver is among the most-used referees in the Premier League this season, with no official overseeing more than his 15 top-flight matches. Three of those matches have involved two of these sides. Oliver has overseen two Chelsea matches, and one for Man City.
Man City will be looking to stay close to Premier League leaders Arsenal, while Chelsea are fighting to return to the top four.
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Michael Oliver’s Man City record
This will be Oliver’s 63rd Man City game as a referee, with the 40-year-old only officiating Liverpool more (once this game is done). And Man City fans won’t be unhappy to see him. The Citizens have won 45 of their 62 previous games with Oliver in the middle, losing just 11. That’s more wins than any other team Oliver has refereed. He has also awarded Man City 11 penalties, with eight against, and just one red card.
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 62 |
| Wins | 45 |
| Draws | 6 |
| Defeats | 11 |
| League points | 116 |
| Penalties per game | 0.18 |
| Yellow cards per game | 1.48 |
| Red cards per game | 0.02 |
What happened when Michael Oliver last refereed Man City?
Although Man City have a good record under Oliver, the Citizens did lose their last game with him in the middle. Oliver oversaw Man City’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in October, in which he showed four yellow cards to Guardiola’s side. It was a relatively uneventful game, with just one yellow card for Aston Villa.
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Michael Oliver’s Chelsea record
Oliver has taken charge of 58 Chelsea games to date, with the Blues winning 27 and losing 17. He was the man in the middle for their 2017-18 FA Cup final win over Manchester United, but he also oversaw their 2020-21 defeat to Leicester City. Oliver has awarded Chelsea eight penalties during his time as referee, with only three against them.
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches | 58 |
| Wins | 27 |
| Draws | 14 |
| Defeats | 17 |
| League points | 80 |
| Penalties per game | 0.14 |
| Yellow cards per game | 1.64 |
| Red cards per game | 0.05 |
What happened when Michael Oliver last refereed Chelsea?
This will be Oliver’s third Chelsea game this season. The most recent was a goalless draw with Bournemouth at the start of December. Oliver showed two yellow cards, both going to Chelsea players late on — including one for dissent.
What should we expect from Michael Oliver?
Oliver has been surprisingly lenient this season. He has shown just one red card and 35 yellows across his 15 matches, averaging 2.4 per match. Only one referee with more than one game refereed averages fewer cards. It’s a similar story for Oliver’s 10.4 fouls per card. And Oliver has only awarded one penalty. So we could see a lot let go in this game, which is what fans love to see.