Mikel Arteta has been left less than impressed by Anthony Taylor's officiating already this season.
The referee will be the man making the decisions during Arsenal's crunch clash with Manchester City later this week. The two title protagonists are yet to face each other in the league this term, but a win for City would see them leapfrog the Gunners at the top of the table.
Taylor has refereed Arsenal on four occasions this term - Arteta's side winning them all. However he took issue with some of Taylor's decisions during their win at Brighton back in December. The Gunners secured a 4-2 victory, but Arteta would eventually do nothing but smile at Taylor - even if he was far from happy.
Regarded as one of the Premier League's top refs, Taylor has been the man in the middle for Arsenal's wins over Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Brighton and Manchester United. The latter saw a late Eddie Nketiah goal awarded thanks to VAR amid a marginal offside call.
During that clash Arteta was booked by Taylor for his antics on the touchline. Martin Tyler, who was commentating on Sky Sports, said at the time: "Well, two weeks ago I can tell you that there was a meeting. I think at St George’s Park, amongst officials, about dugout behaviour by managers.
His Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville has also accused Arteta's touchline actions, which often see him venturing out of his technical area, of going too far at times. "I think he's right Anthony Taylor. He has been singled out over the last couple of weeks, Mikel Arteta," he said.
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"It's just a basic foul. There's nothing in it really. Shaw tries to get in front, Saka does well. It is a foul, no problem, just move on with the game. He makes it look like he's two-footed him. I was here for the Newcastle game and he was at it all game, Mikel Arteta, but on some occasions it wasn’t called for. He charged about 15 yards down the touchline towards the official, which is why he was shown a yellow card."
Arteta's Arsenal side dropped points at the Emirates for only the second time when they drew with Brentford last time out. A VAR error saw them miss an offside call, which would've seen Ivan Toney's equaliser ruled out, which was a cause of great frustration to the Spanish boss.
He will be aiming to get one over on his mentor, Pep Guardiola, whom he spent several years working under. Arsenal have picked up just one point from their last two games which has allowed City to close the gap with a return meeting to come at the Etihad in April.
