Reference Following a contentious Premier League penalty, Anthony Taylor was ‘demoted to Championship’
Preston vs. Coventry this weekend is a Championship match that Premier League official Anthony Taylor will referee.

Taylor was demoted after his controversial penalty call.

Anthony Taylor, the Premier League referee, has been dropped to the Championship for this weekend’s slate of games.

Taylor, 45, has come under fire after controversially awarding Newcastle a penalty during their weekend trip to Wolves, which resulted in the Magpies taking an early lead.

When Hwang Hee-chan cleared the ball, the referee determined that Fabian Schar had been knocked down.

And VAR agreed with Taylor as the spot-kick stood.

Taylor, who has been a Premier League official since 2010, will now referee the second-tier clash between Preston and Coventry – his first Championship tie since 2019.

And VAR agreed with Taylor as the spot-kick stood.

Taylor, who has been a Premier League official since 2010, will now referee the second-tier clash between Preston and Coventry – his first Championship tie since 2019.

While Hwang added: “I’d tried to clear the ball and saw someone block me. I stopped and he touched me – I don’t think it was a penalty.

“I felt so sad and really wanted to do something for my team. Everybody said ‘You can do it.’

They gave me trust and I scored.” Even Eddie Howe admitted it was a close call: “With the long delay, you knew it was a tight call.”

Taylor isn’t the first official to be sent to the Championship this season.

Adrian Holmes was sent to run the line during Millwall’s home match against Hull in October after he played his role in ruling out Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool against Tottenham in north London.

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Liverpool have surprise visitor to the AXA amid Ryan Gravenberch’s Dutch exile

Liverpool hosted a surprise visitor to the AXA Training Centre on Friday, with talks likely held over the international future of Ryan Gravenberch.

Gravenberch has not been part of the Netherlands squad for the past two breaks, having turned down a call-up in September to focus on settling at Liverpool.

The midfielder was dropped by national team manager Ronald Koeman and U21s coach Michael Reiziger for October, and he has now been omitted for November fixtures.

It has been confirmed that this is due to Gravenberch’s decision not to join the U21s squad days after his £38.5 million switch from Bayern Munich, with Reiziger explaining that “the signal has now been sent.”

Before the No. 38 earns a recall to the Netherlands setup, reparative talks had been expected with Nigel de Jong, technical director for the Dutch FA.

There was a clear motivation, then, for De Jong’s presence during the first-team session at the AXA Training Centre on Friday afternoon.

De Jong, the former Man City midfielder, was pictured in light-hearted discussions with Klopp as his players warmed up before the trip to Luton.

The 38-year-old was also seen talking to Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk and striker Cody Gakpo, along with Mohamed Salah.

While Gravenberch was not spotted alongside De Jong, the strong likelihood is that conversations were held away from the pitch along with Klopp himself.

Gravenberch has shown excellent form since his transfer from Bayern, with two goals and two assists in 12 appearances so far.

He would undoubtedly be an asset to either the Netherlands senior side or, for now, the U21s, and De Jong’s visit to Merseyside could see him brought back into the fold.

Friday also saw Luis Diaz take part in full training alongside his team-mates, as he awaits news on the kidnapping of his father.

Luis Manuel Diaz is expected to be released by guerrilla group ELN in the coming hours, though Klopp explained in his pre-Luton press conference that he would not “force” the winger’s inclusion on Sunday.

The session also saw 16-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni take part again, while both Ben Doak and Luke Chambers were involved after missing recent squads.