Fulham vs Chelsea: Who is the referee and VAR for the Premier League clash?
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The officials have been confirmed for Chelsea's Premier League clash against Fulham on Wednesday evening.
Fulham host the west London derby at Craven Cottage as Chelsea make the short trip from their Stamford Bridge home.
Both sides started 2026 with draws against Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively, offering the perfect chance for not only London bragging rights, but their first three points of the new calendar year.
Chelsea have recently appointed Liam Rosenior as their new head coach to replace Enzo Maresca, but he will be in the stands on Wednesday, with Calum McFarlane taking interim charge, once again, before Rosenior takes over on Thursday.
In a welcome boost for Chelsea, Moises Caicedo will return from suspension. Meanwhile, Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana were all absent in the 1-1 draw against Man City, and could all return to the side.
McFarlane has done his homework on Marco Silva's side and is prepared for all eventualities depending on the system and shape the Cottagers opt to go for against Chelsea.
"They obviously changed shape against Liverpool in a different shape to what they've played in the majority of the season," previewed McFarlane.
"It's a good question and you're right, we have to probably prep for two different scenarios. Try and find as much alignment between both plans so there's not as much confusion or as much to fix if they don't do what we expected. We'll be ready for any scenario.
"Like we were at City, they didn't shape up how we completely expected and we adapted and got to give the players credit for that because it's easy to give them an idea but they've got to go out and believe it and execute it. I think they've done that really well so we'll be ready for hopefully every eventuality."
As Wednesday's clash awaits, the officials have been confirmed for the Premier League fixture.
Referee
The Premier League have confirmed that Peter Bankes will take charge of the meeting between Fulham and Chelsea.
Assistants
Peter Bankes will be supported by Eddie Smart and Blake Antrobus on the touchline.
Fourth Official
Anthony Taylor has been named as the Fourth Official for Wednesday's match, with the referee overseeing conduct within the two dugouts, and the behaviour of Marco Silva and Chelsea Under-21s head coach Calum McFarlane, who will lead the team for the final time before handing the reins over to Rosenior.
VAR/Assistant VAR
Overseeing proceedings from Stockley Park on Wednesday will be John Brooks, who has been named as the Video Assistant Referee, with the Assistant Video Assistant Referee being Gary Beswick.
Matt Debono leads the editorial team which covers Chelsea On SI. He has witnessed Chelsea win it all, whilst also featuring on ITV News, SPORTbible and various other publications.