Manchester City play host to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The outcome of the game will obviously have huge consequences for Arne Slot’s Liverpool pertaining to their Premier League title charge, but Manchester City desperately need a win as well.
Pep Guardiola‘s side have been really poor on the whole this season, and a top four finish is far from guaranteed.
In order for Man City to get a big result against Liverpool on Sunday, the players will need The Etihad crowd to be right behind them.
Pep laid down the gauntlet to the home fans during the 4-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday, urging them to make more noise.
City are currently sitting in fourth spot in the Premier League table, but they’re only one point ahead of Bournemouth and Chelsea, and just three clear of Newcastle in seventh.
All the focus right now is on Wednesday’s huge Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
However, once that’s done and dusted, attention will switch to the Liverpool game, and the enormity of the task ahead for Pep’s side.
Arne Slot’s team have been superb this season, and they will undoubtedly represent an incredibly difficult test for Man City.
However, it might just be the Liverpool fans who are squirming heading into the game.
Anthony Taylor named as referee for Manchester City vs Liverpool
The Premier League have confirmed on their official website that Anthony Taylor will referee the huge game at The Etihad this weekend.
That’s bad news for the Reds.
Liverpool fans have protested strongly against Taylor refereeing their games on numerous occasions in the past, most recently back in April 2024 for their clash with Manchester United (Daily Mail).
The Reds fans really don’t like the 46-year-old adjudicating their games. This is because Taylor is from the Greater Manchester area.
In the interest of balance though, it has to be highlighted that Taylor is actually a fan of National League side Altrincham, rather than Manchester United or Manchester City, and has held a season ticket with them for many years.
Taylor has refereed more Liverpool games than any other club – 64. The Reds have lost 10 of those matches, drawn 19 and won 35.
The Liverpool fans have accused Taylor of being rather trigger happy when it comes to dishing out yellow cards to their players – he’s handed out 112 bookings to Liverpool players in 64 games.
He genuinely stunned Liverpool fans in April 2024 during a vital clash with West Ham, when he halted play after Alphonse Areola rolled the ball out, only for Cody Gakpo to advanced towards the goal, and nick the ball off the Frenchman.
Taylor blew up due to the fact that he perceived Areola to have been fouled during an earlier incident at the back post.
It was a pathetic call from the Premier League referee – one that fueled Liverpool fans’ anger towards him even more so.
Stuart Attwell on VAR for Manchester City vs Liverpool
In addition to Taylor being named as the referee, there’s even more bad news for the Reds.
That’s because Stuart Attwell has been named as the lead VAR official for the game.
Liverpool fans will be very familiar with Attwell, after he refused to overturn Michael Oliver’s on-field decision not to award Liverpool a penalty during the 1-1 draw with Manchester City at Anfield in March last year.
Jurgen Klopp absolutely ripped into Attwell after the game (The Mirror).
The 42-year-old being on VAR duty should be the last of Reds fans’ worries though.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell us that Liverpool fans won’t be happy one little bit with the fact that Anthony Taylor will take charge of the huge clash with Manchester City.
Whether or not he ends up playing a deciding role in the contest remains to be seen.
