Clubs are reportedly exploring claims following the Man City verdict – one of them, Liverpool, is the fallout’s first opponent.
Manchester City are preparing for their first football match since receiving a guilty verdict for multiple breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules and – of course – their opponent on Sunday is among the clubs who have grievances over their defeats in the seasons in question.
Liverpool’s Anfield crowd are expected to give a furious reception to the Premier League clash, and City manager Enzo Maresca and his players must prepare for the backlash to continue throughout the match itself.
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City protested his innocence and appealed his verdict on more than 100 accusations of financial wrongdoing.
Still, the scandal remains the largest in the history of soccer’s richest, most competitive and most popular league, and backlash in the stands will likely persist long after the outcome of the appeal or potential sanctions are finalized.
The current generation of players and staff will simply have to face burdens that extend from 2009 to 2018.
The fact that their opening match after the international window, when the guilty verdict was handed down, took place at Anfield is something a screenwriter might even pause to consider strange.
“If they want to understand how angry the game is going to be, then Anfield will tell them like you would never believe,” former Manchester United captain and England defender Gary Neville recently said on The Overlap podcast.
“I suspect there may be banners, there will definitely be chants. There will be a reception like you’ve never seen at Anfield… it’s going to be a brutal day.”
Why are Liverpool about to give Man City an angry reception?
Of all the clubs who have finished second to City since the Abu Dhabi takeover, Liverpool will argue that they have been among the hardest hit.
There is a growing feeling that any titles City are deprived of should go to their closest rivals, or defeated runners-up, during the period under review.
For Liverpool, however, their two closest calls with City came after 2018.
Under former manager Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool won the Premier League in 2020, but the team also finished second behind Pep Guardiola’s City by one point in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons.
These two title runs were memorable and raised the bar in terms of points won and the standard of football played.
Liverpool will also not see the title in retrospect if the Premier League does indeed choose to go that route in relation to the honors won in the seasons under investigation.
Liverpool fans will argue, and most likely vehemently on Sunday, that what helped City reach this level was almost a decade of rule-breaking, as the independent panel found.
Liverpool can, however, claim at least one title during the period in question.
The Reds, managed by Brendan Rodgers, finished second, two points ahead of City in 2013-14 – Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip in a match against Chelsea is the memorable moment from that campaign.
That left the Anfield faithful to continue their wait for a first top-flight title since 1990.
Just weeks earlier, Gerrard was the star of the show as Liverpool beat City 3-2 to seemingly get their hands on the elusive title.
Any retrospective award of titles could see club legend Gerrard finally hold a Premier League winner’s medal.
Are there any elements of Man City’s current set-up left from the period of the accusations?
Aside from Phil Foden, who was suspended for the match, no current member of City’s squad played for the club from 2009 to 2018.
Enzo Maresca, who was City’s youth team coach in 2020-21 and Guardiola’s assistant in 2022-23, only took charge of City’s first team in June.
Yet they will be the ones bearing the brunt of the widespread discontent from fans across the country in the months to come.
What will be intriguing is who among City’s owners or board will attend the Liverpool game.
How much will this case weigh on the players under the most intense pressure? And how will City fans react, with their club’s future so uncertain – potential sanctions include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League – and the violations of its ownership clearly visible in the commission’s verdict?
City lead the league with five wins from five matches – all of which came while the club was accused of these financial violations.
Now that the guilty verdict is in, it’s time to see the impact on the team – and the reaction of its rivals.
Gn sports
