English referee Anthony Taylor will officiate Italy’s crunch World Cup qualifier against Switzerland, with Stuart Attwell as the VAR.
The game kicks off on Friday at 19.45 GMT at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and currently the two nations are neck and neck at the top of the group.
They are divided only by goal difference, as Italy are on +12 and Switzerland +9, having drawn 0-0 on Swiss soil.
Taylor has been assigned to this match, assisted by Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, with Craig Pawson as the Fourth Official.
The VAR is also English, Stuart Attwell, assisted by Paul Tierney.
Taylor was chosen to officiate the recent Nations League Final, which saw France beat Spain 2-1.
He has already overseen four Italy games, resulting in victories over Greece and Austria, the latter in extra time for the UEFA EURO 2020 Round of 16.
There were also a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands and 3-1 friendly defeat to France in October 2018, the second game under Roberto Mancini’s tenure.
Taylor has never officiated Switzerland at senior level, but his record with club and Under-21 sides is of one win, four draws and one defeat.
English referees are without a shadow of a doubt the worst in the whole of Europe. Take that turnip Michael Oliver. Makes a woeful error sending of Hummels vs Ajax and yet incredibly, VAR didn’t correct him and he stuck by his decision.
Fast forward to the weekend, and he somehow ends up refereeing the manchester derby. In the final 10 minutes, there was a clear trip in the penalty area on Jesus, and neither he or VAR corrected what was a clear and obvious error. They gave a corner instead.
These officials will try to enact their revenge for when we beat them in their back yard. As well as needing to beat the Swiss we now need to beat the ref and linesmen.
Watch this space ragazzi cos its gonna be a tough one!
I’m English and I agree. When I began watching Italian football I was very impressed by how much better the refereeing was. In particular the willingness of referees to consult their linesmen. I also found the standard to be much better in Argentine football.
All we need are the pre-made excuses by the players (I’m not referring to the comments here).
I seriously don’t want to hear them carry on about pitch condition, injuries, feeling tired, argument with the side-piece the night before, referees.
Failure to qualify stains the good that was done in June & July and the last 37 matches.