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The Premier League have confirmed the list of match officials to oversee this weekend’s mammoth top-flight clash between Manchester City and Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola and his players cut the gap between themselves and Mikel Arteta’s league leaders to six points across the weekend, after the Gunners fell to a 1-2 home defeat against Bournemouth and City recorded an impressive 0-3 win at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.
With only a handful of matches remaining in the ongoing Premier League campaign, there is little margin for error for City in particular, but their game in hand on Arsenal and the clash with the North London club on Sunday could prove monumental for their title hopes.
A win for Manchester City this weekend would make it a statement, unbeaten season against Arsenal, having managed a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium in the reverse fixture and a 0-2 Carabao Cup final victory at Wembley Stadium last month.
In a significant boost for Pep Guardiola, his club captain and heavily relied upon midfielder Bernardo Silva will be available for selection, having avoided a 10th yellow card of the season against Chelsea last time out.
And ahead of the meeting between Manchester City and Arsenal, the Premier League have now announced the list of match officials to oversee proceedings at the Etihad Stadium!
Match Referee
With a high-stakes fixture up for grabs this weekend, the Premier League have handed on-field match referee duties to the hugely experienced Anthony Taylor – who will also be headed to this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America.
The 47-year-old Manchester-born official has overseen matches across the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and qualification, UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, UEFA Conference League, and World Cup Qualification Play-offs.
In those 36 outings prior to the Champions League quarter-final second-leg ties, Taylor has issued a total of 141 yellow cards, two second yellow card dismissals, two straight red cards, and seven penalties awarded.
Manchester City have seen themselves officiated by Anthony Taylor on 50 previous occasions, winning 27 of those matches, drawing 10, and losing the remaining 13 such contests.
This season alone, City have met with Taylor in three matches including both of the Manchester Derby clashes with bitter rivals United; winning 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium and losing 2-0 at Old Trafford. The other fixture was a 3-1 home win over Bournemouth.
Assistant Referees
Accompanying referee Anthony Taylor out on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium this weekend will be Gary Beswick and Ian Hussin, appointed as the contest’s assistant referees.
Video Assistant Referees
Monitoring proceedings between Manchester City and Arsenal from the VAR Hub at Stockley Park will be Video Assistant Referee John Brooks, supported by Stuart Burt in the role of Assistant Video Assistant Referee.
Fourth Official
Standing between the two dugouts in what is likely to be a very lively affair off the pitch as well as on it, will be referee Paul Tierney – appointed as the game’s fourth official to manage matters between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
