Referee Howard Webb is not taking charge of Liverpool’s match with Manchester City (Picture: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

England’s World Cup referee Howard Webb has been dealt another blow by being overlooked for Sunday’s crucial title clash between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Webb has been given a string of low-profile matches since a calamitous performance in the Arsenal-Liverpool FA Cup tie two months ago. The 42-year-old will handle Crystal Palace v Aston Villa this weekend.

Instead, Mark Clattenburg will referee this weekend’s title clash at Anfield, he last officiated a Liverpool game on March 16 when the Reds beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in which the official awarded the Premier League leaders three penalties.



The decision to appoint Clattenburg as referee will be a welcomed relief to Liverpool supporters. who feared Webb would be the official for this important fixture.


Referee Mark Clattenburg will be the man in the middle on Sunday at Anfield (Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images)

It is no secret that Webb is not the fans’ favourite referee and many mocked him on social media sites by portraying him with a Manchester United shirt with his history of awarding Liverpool’s rivals so many big decisions.

But Webb has kept up his reputation of Liverpool’s most hated referee this season with him making more decisions against the Reds in high-profile games.

Webb refused to give Liverpool a penalty against Chelsea earlier in the season when Samuel Eto’o clearly upended Luis Suarez in the penalty area, then during the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal he refused to award the Reds their second spot-kick of the match when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blatantly fouled the Uruguayan striker.

Avoiding Webb in such a crucial fixture is a massive boost for Liverpool because, although the FA rate him as our top referee, my opinion is he has been unfair on Liverpool in the past.

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