What did we ever do to the Football Gods that means they insist on foisting Anthony Taylor upon us?

In charge of four Arsenal matches this season already, Taylor comes into the game against Sunderland with a record of refereed 37, booked 153, sent off nine.

Arsenal have won two of the games he’s been in charge off (5-0 v Villa, 4-1 v Liverpool) but he was the ref who was in charge of the nightmare at Stoke, sending off Calum Chambers for two nothing yellows while allowing Charlie Adam to chokehold Alexis Sanchez.

Similarly, he’s been in charge of four Sunderland games, only one of which they’ve lost (the 4-1 drubbing at home to Palace). He issued 11 yellows and one red (for two yellows) to the Black Cats in those four games, while Arsenal picked up five yellows and a red (for two yellows).

We all know by now what we get when Taylor is in charge and I don’t overly feel like rehashing it.

By far the worst referee in the division, he is incompetent beyond belief. Given how poor he is, it’s hard to determine if he holds some sort of grudge against the Gunners, although it certainly feels like that at times. However, if you’ve watched Taylor take charge of other games, you’ll have realised that he’s just simply awful.

He loves a two-yellow red, so keep an eye out for that although I’m not too optimistic he will deal with Sunderland, the dirtiest team in the league by a distance, adequately.