Match Officials: Darren England to referee Crystal Palace vs Manchester City | OneFootball

The Premier League have confirmed Darren England will lead the team of match officials for Manchester City’s upcoming away clash at Crystal Palace.

Pep Guardiola and his players travel to South London in a rich vein of form, and particularly confident having dismissed of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday to cement their position in the automatic qualification places for the Champions League’s last-16 until 2026.

In the Premier League, City have also been strong with their last contest bringing about a 3-0 win over high-flyers Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium, and the narrowing of the gap at the top of the division with Arsenal to just two points.

Much has been made of the two clubs’ title race at this stage of the campaign, but Manchester City have enough experience to know that plenty of twists and turns can still be expected this season, although they will want this weekend to not be one of those in the Gunners’ favour.

It is a swift turnaround for City between now and kick-off in the capital, and so Pep Guardiola will need his stars to recover the best way possibly for a contest far from a foregone conclusion – and no side will know that better than City, who lost the 2025 FA Cup final to the Eagles.

Ahead of the meeting between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, the Premier League have now announced the list of match officials to oversee proceedings at Selhurst Park!

Match Referee

Referee Darren England has taken charge of 11 matches across all competitions so far this season in the Premier League, the UEFA Europa League’s qualifying stage, and the Carabao Cup.

In those outings, the Doncaster-born, 39-year-old match official has handed out a total of 39 yellow cards, one second yellow card dismissal, and awarding three penalty kicks in the process.

In matches specifically involving Manchester City, Darren England has come across the Etihad Stadium club on 11 different occasions, with the Sky Blues emerging as the victors in 10 matches, drawing none of those meetings, and losing the remaining contest.

England has already taken charge of two of Pep Guardiola’s matches this season alone with very different outings, acting as the referee in the 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in August, as well as the 0-1 win away at Brentford in October.

Assistant Referees

Accompanying Darren England out on the pitch at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon will be an assistant referee pairing of Scott Ledger and Akil Howson, the Premier League have confirmed.

Video Assistant Referees

Overseeing Crystal Palace’s match against Manchester City from the VAR Hub at Stockley Park will be Video Assistant Referee Matt Donohue, accompanied by Assistant Video Assistant Referee Peter Wright.

Fourth Official

Overseeing matters from between the two dugouts and managing Oliver Glasner and Pep Guardiola’s respective benches will be the appointed fourth official, Anthony Backhouse.