Premier League make official decision ahead of Manchester City vs Manchester United after "big mistake"

Anthony Taylor has been appointed as the referee for Sunday’s Manchester derby. An out-of-sorts Manchester City host rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, hoping to put their poor form behind them.

Pep Guardiola’s side have won just one of their last 10 games, although that victory did come in front of their own supporters as they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on December 4. Since that win, they have drawn 2-2 at Crystal Palace and lost 2-0 to Juventus in the Champions League. Meanwhile, United have had an inconsistent start to life under Ruben Amorim. They lost 3-2 to Forest at Old Trafford last weekend and needed two late goals to beat Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Sunday’s derby is a big game for both sides and Taylor has been given the responsibility to take charge of the contest. The 46-year-old has officiated 49 United games in his career, with the Red Devils winning 28, drawing six and losing 15. He has been the man in the middle 44 times for City, with the Citizens winning 25 of those games, with nine draws and 10 losses. Taylor was in charge of another derby contest last weekend as he officiated Chelsea’s 4-3 win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. He awarded two penalties to Chelsea in that game but there was a highly -controversial moment in the first half when Moises Caicedo caught Pape Matar Sarr with a high challenge when Spurs were leading 2-1. Taylor did not produce any sort of card while VAR checked the incident and ruled a clear and obvious error had not been made.

The decision was criticised by Jamie Carragher and former Premier League referee Keith Hackett. The former Liverpool defender said: “He (Caicedo) just comes in nowhere near the ball. For me, it just seemed like the most obvious red card you would see. He’s a very very lucky boy and that’s something that I would imagine [Ange] Postecoglou would look back on at the end of the game.”

Hackett added: “Jamie Carragher is spot on - this is a red card challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent. You do not have to be travelling at speed to apply excessive force. You have to also take into account the speed of the opponent and the force of two players coming together. It’s a red card and sadly a big mistake.”

This season Taylor has refereed 13 Premier League games and three Champions League fixtures. In the Premier League he has produced just over four yellows cards per game on average while awarding just under 22 fouls per 90 minutes. He was in charge for United’s 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town and their 3-0 loss to Liverpool at Old Trafford. He has taken charge of one game involving City, which came on the opening weekend as Guardiola’s side won 2-0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.