The referee for GW9’s marquee Arsenal vs Liverpool clash has been officially announced, and it’s Anthony Taylor. Interestingly, Taylor was also the ref when the two sides met last season at the same venue- a fixture the Gunners won 3-1 thanks to some rare Alisson mistakes. He was also in charge of this fixture in 2019/20 (3-1 win for LFC at home) and 2014/15 (4-1 win for AFC at home)
Interestingly, Taylor is yet to referee a game involving Arsenal in the current 2024/25 season, but has already had the whistle for two league games involving Arne Slot’s Liverpool- their 3-0 win over Manchester United in Week 3, and the 2-1 triumph at Wolves in Week 6.
The seven Premier League games refereed by Anthony Taylor in the 24/25 season so far
Chelsea 0-2 Man City
Tottenham 4-0 Everton
Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool
Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea
Wolves 1-2 Liverpool
West Ham 4-1 Ipswich
Southampton 2-3 Leicester
Some of Arsenal’s major trophies in the past decade have been with Taylor as the ref- the 2016/17 and the 2019/20 FA Cup victories (both over Chelsea).
Taylor will have Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn as his assistants for Arsenal v LFC, with Michael Salisbury on VAR duty.Liverpool currently have a four point advantage over Arsenal in the league standings, and that gap could potentially increase to 7 if they win at the Emirates this weekend.
The last time Taylor was in charge of an Arsenal game was back in March earlier this year- the goalless 0-0 stalemate against eventual champions Manchester City.
Arsenal v Liverpool on 27 October 2024 (Sunday at 16.30 GMT) in Round 9