The Premier League has made a surprising decision regarding the referee for the match between Manchester City and Manchester United in the wake of a double VAR controversy.

Anthony Taylor will preside over the forthcoming Manchester derby following a contentious refereeing performance during the meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

The referee did not consider Moises Caicedo’s apparent attempt to plant his studs into the shin of Pape Matar Sarr to be a foul, let alone severe foul play.

The Chelsea midfielder subsequently avoided a red card after a subsequent VAR check affirmed his on-field decision.Dejan Kulusevski was also not penalized for striking Romeo Lavia on the side of the head with a raised elbow, despite Taylor’s direct observation of the incident.

The VAR asserted that the contact was “devoid of intensity” due to the fact that it did not entail the elbow being drawn back to be used as a weapon. Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn will serve as assistant referees at the Etihad Stadium, where Stuart Attwell will serve as the video assistant referee.

Manchester City and Manchester United are preparing to commence their match. Tim Robinson has been appointed as the fourth official, and Simon Bennett has been appointed as the assistant VAR.

The official from Wythenshawe, who attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and holds a season ticket at Moss Lane to support the Robins, will receive their backing in the fourth Manchester Derby.

Taylor has not yet officiated a derby at Old Trafford, as his previous three and this one were all on the east or blue side of the city.

March 2021 was the most recent, which occurred nearly four years ago.On that particular occasion, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team was granted a penalty within two minutes after Taylor determined that Gabriel Jesus had fouled Anthony Martial.

Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot, and Luke Shaw doubled their lead early in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory.

In the Manchester derby that was previously officiated by Taylor in December 2019, United once again scored with a penalty, which overturned the referee’s on-field decision not to consider Bernardo Silva’s challenge on Marcus Rashford a violation.

Nicolas Otamendi reduced the deficit late on, but the Reds were on course to a 2-1 victory after the felled forward converted the spot-kick and Martial scored a second within six minutes.

Taylor’s inaugural Manchester Derby victory occurred in November 2018, and City emerged victorious, despite United being awarded a penalty once more.

David Silva and Sergio Aguero had already secured a 2-0 lead for the hosts when Martial scored his goal. Ilkay Gundogan restored the two-goal lead four minutes before the end.