- Anthony Taylor will referee Man City v Arsenal
- Overseeing his fourth City match this season
- Controversy over his club allegiance
Anthony Taylor will take charge of Manchester City’s important Premier League clash against Arsenal for the first time since the Manchester derby.
Manchester City are preparing for what is surely the biggest match of their Premier League season to date.
The Citizens have closed the gap on Arsenal, after recording a 3-0 victory over Chelsea at the weekend.
It was already known just how significant a victory this would be, as Arsenal lost to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Anthony Taylor will referee Man City vs Arsenal
Man City’s next fixture will be overseen by Anthony Taylor, who has already been the man with the whistle in three of the club’s previous matches this season.
Gary Beswick and Ian Hussin will be assisting the referee, while Paul Tierney will take up the role of fourth official.
Finally, John Brookes is the VAR. He refereed three City matches last season, including a 0-0 Manchester derby draw and a 4-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
Taylor’s record on Man City matches
Over the past two seasons, Taylor has refereed seven Man City games and only three of these have been won by Pep Guardiola’s team.
This season alone, he oversaw City’s 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Manchester United and Bournemouth respectively.
| Results | Bookings for Man City | Bookings for opponent |
| Man United 2-0 Manchester City | 3 | 2 |
| Man City 3-1 Bournemouth | 2 | 2 |
| City 3-0 Manchester United | 0 | 0 |
| Man City 0-2 Liverpool | 0 | 0 |
| Brentford 2-2 Manchester City | 0 | 0 |
| Man City 1-2 Man United | 1 | 1 |
| Chelsea 0-2 City | 1 | 1 |
Taylor was also in charge of the second Manchester derby of the season, which ended in a 2-0 defeat for the Sky Blues.
Across these three fixtures, Taylor has handed out five yellow cards to Man City and four to their opponents in total.
Is Taylor a Manchester City supporter?
There has been controversy over how many Man City and United matches Taylor referees, considering he lives a short distance from the stadiums of both teams.
However, ex-Premier League referee Graham Scott has confirmed to The Athletic that Taylor is an Altrincham fan and has no allegiance to either of the Manchester giants.
Therefore, Arsenal’s followers can rest assured that there will not be anything untoward going on at the Etihad Stadium this Sunday.
In truth, based on the way both teams are playing at the moment, City should not require the favours of a referee anyway!
