Premier League make official decision ahead of Chelsea vs Aston Villa showdown at Stamford Bridge

The Premier League have confirmed that Stuart Attwell will be the referee for Aston Villa’s upcoming visit to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Attwell was added to the National List of Referees in 2007 and a year later made a prominent debut in the top-flight by becoming the youngest person to ever referee in the Premier League at the age of 25.

The 42-year-old has over 200 games of Premier League experience, with seven of those coming this season. So far this term, he has handed out 28 yellow cards and two red cards. Over the course of his career, Attwell has taken charge of 16 Aston Villa matches, with the Villans coming out on top on eight occasions, drawing three times and losing five.

Attwell has overseen one Aston Villa match this season, which was an entertaining 2-2 draw away to Ipswich Town at Portman Road back in September.

Watch: The Premier League Panel: Will we ever see another Class of '92?

Con Hatzidakis and Simon Long will act as assistant referees during Aston Villa’s clash with Chelsea, while Bobby Madley will be the game’s fourth official. Any contentious VAR decisions at Stamford Bridge will be settled by Michael Salisbury and his assistant Derek Eaton.

Aston Villa are currently eighth in the table and three points behind Arsenal in the Champions League places. The West Midlands side are without a win in their last four Premier League matches, in a run stretching back to mid-October when they defeated Fulham 3-1 at Craven Cottage. Unai Emery’s side came back from behind on two occasions to secure a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace last time out in an end to end contest in the West Midlands.

Aston Villa’s upcoming opponents

For the first time in the Todd Boehly era, Chelsea are starting to look like a force to be reckoned with. The Blues currently sit third in the table with 22 points from their opening 12 games, just a point behind champions Manchester City, but a distant nine points behind current runaway leaders Liverpool.

Enzo Maresca’s side are unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches and haven’t tasted defeat at Stamford Bridge since an opening day defeat to Manchester City.

Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson are the team’s joint top scorers with seven goals each in the Premier League while the likes Noni Madueke and Moises Caicedo have been heavily praised for their performances so far. Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last three Premier League games against Chelsea and are hoping to extend that run to four matches for the first time since 1983.