Aston Villa welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Villa Park this weekend for the fourth round of the FA Cup – and the match will be officiated by referee Anthony Taylor. Villa beat West Ham in the third round of the FA Cup to progress to this round of the competition, which they haven’t won since 1957, and host another Premier League side in Spurs.
Taylor last oversaw a match involving Villa on Boxing Day, at Newcastle United. On that day, the Magpies won 3-0 against ten-man Villa, after Taylor controversially dismissed Jhon Duran in the first half for what was interpreted to be a stamp – an ‘act of brutality’ – on defender Fabian Schar. It was a decision VAR agreed with, although VAR will not be in use this weekend.
It proved to be the last game Duran started for Villa, after he completed his expensive move to Al-Nassr in the January transfer window. The decision sparked plenty of anger from the Villa fanbase and from Unai Emery post-match; he confirmed after that game that the club would appeal the sending off, but Taylor’s decision was upheld.
For the first time since Boxing Day, Taylor will take care of a Villa game this Sunday. The last time he was at Villa Park was for the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United, shortly before Christmas 2023. The last time he looked after a Spurs game was in December, when they dramatically lost 4-3 to London rivals Chelsea.