BREAKING NEWS: Manchester derby referee announced amid major Premier League VAR controversy

With both teams under pressure after sluggish season starts, Sunday’s Manchester derby is the biggest event in town.

Despite winning four straight Premier League titles, Pep Guardiola’s team is currently fourth in the league table after 15 games due to Manchester City’s collapse this season.

After drawing with Crystal Palace last weekend, City has only won one of their last five league games and will host United at the Etihad.

The Red side of Manchester’s form guide doesn’t look much better. United is currently 13th in the table after losing to Nottingham Forest last time out.

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points 11 Tottenham 15 6 2 7 31 19 12 20 12 Newcastle 15 5 5 5 5 19 21 -2 20 13 Manchester United 15 5 4 6 19 18 1 19 14 West Ham 15 5 3 7 20 28 -8 18 15 Everton 14 3 5 6 14 21-7 14 With no new manager, United will have a difficult task at the Etihad on Sunday, and it might get a little more difficult knowing who the referee is.

Referee Anthony Taylor, Assistants Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, Fourth Official Matt Donohue, VAR Jared Gillett, Assistant VAR Neil Davis, and United have all been confirmed by the Premier League as matchday 16 officials. This is not the first high-profile United match that Taylor has officiated this season; he officiated the team’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool, a result that supporters will want to forget.

However, Erik ten Hag was in charge at the time, and United’s record against the larger teams wasn’t the best.

Amorim wants to improve their record against opponents like Man City and Liverpool. If not, United will probably find themselves in a similar situation as they are now.

Anthony Taylor was a part of the contentious VAR incident.
Taylor has been handed the most important game of the forthcoming game week despite causing criticism with his performance during last week’s Premier League match between Tottenham and Chelsea.

A VAR check verified Taylor’s on-field ruling as he waived away Moises Caicedo’s foul on Pape Matar Sarr, sparing the Chelsea player from a red card. Dejan Kulusevski, a forward for Tottenham, also avoided punishment for using a raised elbow to catch Romeo Lavia on the side of the head.

Stuart Attwell will be on VAR duty for the Manchester derby, and the two teams will not be at odds.

Although Taylor has previously officiated derbies at the Etihad, the referee has never officiated one at Old Trafford.