Anthony Taylor: His Liverpool record in numbers ahead of CRUCIAL Man Utd clash

Anthony Taylor has controversially been named the referee for Manchester United vs Liverpool later today (Sunday April 7). But what is his record with the Reds?

The Premier League announced on Tuesday that Anthony Taylor will be the referee for Manchester United vs Liverpool on Sunday at Old Trafford. It's a controversial appointment, to say the least.

Taylor is from Greater Manchester, which is seen as a problem from a Liverpool perspective. After all, they're facing a Manchester team and competing with a second Manchester team for the Premier League title.

Now, just because you're from Greater Manchester doesn't necessarily make you biased and Taylor is officially down as an Altrincham fan. Regardless, you'd think a less controversial option would exist.

But how controversial should this be? There have been some erroneous stats doing the rounds about Taylor and Liverpool. We've looked into the data to find out just what it all means.

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Anthony Taylor and Liverpool: The numbers

Taylor has refereed Liverpool more than any other club in his career: 58 times in total. Of those, Liverpool have won 32 and lost 10, meaning they do have a better record with him as a referee than either Manchester United or Manchester City.

• Games: 58

• Wins: 32

• Draws: 16

• Defeats: 10

Now, it's notable there that Liverpool have a worse-than-normal winning percentage but Taylor has typically been in charge of big games over the last few years. In other words, he's been in charge of games where the Reds have been less likely to win than normal.

Two of those defeats were against Manchester City, for example, another two against Arsenal, one against 2015 champions Chelsea. Another was on penalties to Burnley in 2010.

Liverpool did lose their most recent fixture with Taylor in charge - the 3-1 against Arsenal. Before that, though, the Reds did go 15 games unbeaten with him as the referee. They've also benefitted from three penalties in their last three Taylor-reffed games.

In fact, Taylor has given more penalties to Liverpool than he has any other side (14).

Anthony Taylor and Liverpool: vs Manchester clubs

But the real problem here is that he's in charge of a game between Liverpool and one of his local teams. So what's the record there?

Taylor has managed eight fixtures between Liverpool and one of the two Manchester sides. Liverpool have won three of these and lost two.

• Games vs Manchester teams: 8

• Wins: 3

• Draws: 3

• Defeats: 2

The first two games Taylor refereed involving Liverpool and a Manchester team both finished in draws. First, a 2-2 with Man City in 2013 and then 0-0 vs Man United in 2016.

Then came back-to-back defeats for Liverpool. Taylor was in charge of the 2-1 City win at Anfield that swung the title race in 2019. He then oversaw City 4-0 Liverpool in 2020 - though, anyone who saw that game will note that the Reds were all over the place having clinched the title the night before.

In the four fixtures since that one, Liverpool are undefeated against Manchester teams with Taylor in charge. He was in charge for 4-2 and 5-0 wins at Old Trafford, a 2-2 at the Etihad in April 2022, and the 1-0 win over City at Anfield in late 2022.

So should Liverpool be worried?

There is no doubt that Liverpool have faced some incredibly questionable decisions with Taylor in charge. We're not denying that for a second here.

But in terms of winning against Manchester teams with Taylor on the pitch, the Reds really don't need to worry about anything. The last two times he refereed this exact fixture, Liverpool won convincingly - including their record win at Old Trafford.

Liverpool know full well that sometimes the referees take things out of their hands, as we've seen several times this season. Taylor, though, is no different to any other referee in the Premier League for the Reds when it comes to that and they typically win the games he refs.

Whether that's in spite of or irrelevant of, we'll leave it up to you.