Referee that showed straight red to Josh Brownhill to officiate Chelsea v Burnley clash
Burnley return to the capital this weekend just over a week on from their long-awaited return to winning ways.
Scott Parker’s side produced a remarkable first-half comeback to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 last week, to win for the first time in the Premier League since October.
While their survival hopes still look slim, the result at least reduces the gap to safety from 11 points to nine.
It had been hoped the Clarets would be coming into Saturday’s game full of confidence and with some momentum behind them – but that all came crashing down last week after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One Mansfield Town.
Chelsea, meanwhile, breezed past Hull City in their fourth round tie to continue their impressive start under new boss Liam Rosenior.
Who is the referee for Chelsea v Burnley?
He’s overseen 18 games so far this season, dishing out 61 yellow cards but no reds.
All but one of those 18 games have come in the Championship, with the other fixture coming in the Carabao Cup.
This will be his first top flight fixture of the campaign, although he has officiated at this level previously.
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What history does he have with Burnley?
This will be Smith’s first game involving the Clarets since February 2024, when he was the man in the middle for the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
He showed a straight red card to Josh Brownhill that day after the midfielder had brought down Jefferson Lerma as the last man, having received a careless pass out from goalkeeper James Trafford.
Ex-ref Dermot Gallagher praised the decision afterwards, remarking: “It’s actually a great spot from the referee because he’s in a position you don’t expect him to be.
"He expects Trafford to play the ball forward… but he can see that Brownhill pulls Lerma back.
“Is he clear on goal? Has he got a chance of shooting? I would say yes, the referee says yes so it’s a red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity.”
Who is on VAR duty?
Michael Salisbury, assisted by Marc Perry.
Salisbury was briefly dropped from VAR duties earlier this season following an error during another game involving Chelsea.
Josh King’s ‘goal’ for Fulham was wrongly ruled out for a foul from Rodrigo Muniz during the build-up and Salisbury was the man who sent Rob Jones to the monitor.
Adrian Holmes and Simon Long will run the line, while Anthony Taylor is on fourth official duties.
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