Mourinho's Referee Comments Investigated By FA

Jose Mourinho's comments about the appointment of referee Anthony Taylor for Manchester United's Premier League match at Liverpool on Monday are to be looked at by the Football Association.

United boss Mourinho said it would be "difficult" for Manchester-based Taylor to perform well after the decision to give him the game was criticised.

"Somebody with intention is putting such a pressure on him," said Mourinho.

Managers are not supposed to speak about referees prior to matches.

The FA will want to establish the context of the comments before deciding what action - if any - they wish to take.

The appointment of Taylor, who supports non-league Altrincham, was criticised by Keith Hackett, the ex-head of the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd.

The decision has also been questioned by Liverpool fans on social media.

Similar scrutiny last season led to the removal of Leicester-based official Kevin Friend from Tottenham's game at Stoke, when Spurs and the Foxes were both going for the title.

Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford in the summer, described Taylor, 37, as "a very good referee".

However, the 53-year-old Portuguese added: "I feel that it will be difficult for him to have a very good performance."

Mourinho is not concerned about his side's discipline heading into the fixture at Anfield, which kicks off at 20:00 BST.

"Our disciplinary record is really, really good - we don't have problems at all at this level," he said.

"We are a team that plays with discipline, that is following everything that was told to us in the meetings that we had with the representatives of the Premier League and the referees.

"We don't press referees, we behave on the touchline so that's a point that we are very comfortable with."

Credit: BBC Sport