Liverpool's Premier League clash with Manchester United will be officiated by referee Anthony Taylor, whose links to Manchester haven't gone unnoticed by unhappy Reds supporters ahead of the eagerly anticipated game.
Taylor, who has been a Premier League referee since 2010 and a FIFA listed official since 2013, originates from Wythenshawe, the same suburban area to the south of Manchester that teenage sensation Marcus Rashford is from.
He no longer lives there after moving to the more upmarket northCheshire boom-town of Altrincham, but that is barely any further away from Old Trafford at just over a 20 minute drive to United's home.
Liverpool fans fearing local bias ahead of Monday night's meeting between the two clubs at Anfield when domestic football resumes after the international break, are already voicing their concerns.
I find it unbelievable that Anthony Taylor from Wythenshawe Greater Manchester is our ref for the match against the scum but then again....
Anthony Taylor who is refereeing our game v the Mancs is from Manchester but has no allegiance to a club, however his wife is a Man Utd fan
Mike Dean lives on the Wirral and ISNT allowed ref Liverpool
Anthony Taylor lives in Manchester and IS allowed to ref Manchester Utd pic.twitter.com/u78MVKq5Gk
Manchester United fans found the outrage amusing.
My mate's sister once went out with Anthony Taylor & she has photographic proof he has Stam & Keane's face tattooed on his arse cheeks. https://t.co/dv8rSjm78X
Locality can be Liverpool's only gripe as areportpublishedin April of this year complied from researchby former World Cup assistant referee Glenn Turner actually determined at that point in time thatTaylor was statisticallythe best official in the Premier League.
He was considered to have only made three mistakes in 27 games up to April of last season, an average of just 0.11 per game. That was compared to 13 in only 22 games for Jon Moss, seven in 19 for Lee Mason, and even five in 27 for Euro 2016 final referee Mark Clattenburg.
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