The match between Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday at Old Trafford will be officiated by Anthony Taylor.
Although Taylor’s decision to take charge of the game will likely make Liverpool supporters roll their eyes, he has actually been the league’s top official thus far this season.
Even if he is an Altrincham supporter, his selection is still debatable because he is from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, which some may find problematic.
Richard West will help John Brooks, the video assistant referee, at Old Trafford, while Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn will serve as deputy referees.
Taylor has overseen four Liverpool games thus far this season, and the Reds have only triumphed in one of those games—a 4-2 victory against Newcastle at Anfield on New Year’s Day.
The other fixtures were the opening day 0-0 vs. Chelsea, the 2-2 at Brighton and the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal.
However, Liverpool has a home match against Sheffield United that they will probably need to win in order to get back to the top of the standings before they travel to Manchester.
Stuart Attwell will serve as the referee, James Mainwaring and Richard West will assist, and Taylor will serve as the fourth official at Anfield.
Meanwhile, Chris Kavanagh and Mark Scholes will serve as the video assistant referees at Stockley Park.
Attwell has only officiated Liverpool on the field once this season, during the Reds’ 4-3 victory over Fulham at Anfield.
In the event that the Reds finish Sunday’s play with six points out of a possible six, they will have just seven games remaining to win the Premier League championship.
Naturally, Man City and Arsenal wouldn’t have to take the maximum of 27 more points from those seven remaining games if they dropped points.
The Reds would end with 94 points if they won every game they had left, but that seems unlikely. They probably won’t need that many either.
The trophy might be won with closer to ninety points because the final three contenders for the title all have difficult away matches to face.
