James Maddison and Levi Colwill appeal to referee Anthony Taylor.
Anthony Taylor drew controversy for his display in the Spurs vs Chelsea showdown.
Anthony Taylor will officiate the impending Manchester derby after a controversial refereeing display during the showdown between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
The referee did not deem Moises Caicedo appearing to plant his studs into the shin of Pape Matar Sarr a foul, let alone serious foul play. A subsequent VAR check then confirmed his on-field decision, with the Chelsea midfielder subsequently evading a red card.
Dejan Kulusevski was also not punished after catching Romeo Lavia on the side of the head with a raised elbow, despite Taylor looking straight at the incident. The VAR claimed the contact "lacked intensity" - because it did not involve drawing back the elbow to use it as a weapon.
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Stuart Attwell will be the VAR at the Etihad Stadium - as Manchester City and Manchester United prepare to get down to business - with Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn acting as assistant referees. Tim Robinson is fourth official, while Simon Bennett has been inked in as assistant VAR. They will support Taylor in a fourth Manchester derby for the official from Wythenshawe, who went to Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and has a season ticket at Moss Lane to support the Robins.
Taylor has yet to officiate a derby at Old Trafford, with his previous three and this one all being on the east or blue side of the city. The most recent was approaching four years ago, in March 2021.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side was awarded a penalty inside two minutes - on that particular occasion - after Taylor adjudged that Gabriel Jesus had fouled Anthony Martial. Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot, while Luke Shaw doubled their advantage early in the second half to secure a 2-0 win.
In the previous Taylor-officiated Manchester derby in December 2019, United again opened the scoring with a penalty, overturning the referee's on-field decision not to deem Bernardo Silva's challenge on Marcus Rashford a foul. The felled forward converted the spot-kick and Martial scored a second within six minutes to put the Reds on course to a 2-1 win - with Nicolas Otamendi halving the deficit late on.
City have won a Manchester derby with Taylor in charge - his first one in November 2018 - despite United being awarded a penalty, once again, in that one. The hosts were already 2-0 up when Martial scored that one through goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero - with Ilkay Gundogan restoring their two-goal advantage four minutes from time.