LIVERPOOL — Manchester City will face an atmosphere of toxicity and hostility at Anfield on Sunday in their first Premier League match since being found guilty of breaching financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. City, under new head coach Enzo Maresca, arrive top of the table and continuing to maintain their innocence after launching an appeal, but the verdict has cast a shadow over the entire season as the Premier League weighs punishment.
The relationship has been fractious for more than a decade, fueled by a sense of injustice among Liverpool supporters who believe more titles should have been theirs. Liverpool finished second behind City in 2013/14, 2018/19 and 2021/22, the last two by a single point, in the defining domestic rivalry of the Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp era. The independent commission used the word "sham" eight times when describing City's dealings, including artificially inflating revenue by more than £900m through "sham" deals, while City insist the ruling contained "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe."
Maresca, who has inherited Guardiola's legacy and the fallout from the punishment, was calm before the game and placed emphasis on "when" City win their appeal. "The reason I joined this club is that I completely trust, 100%, the owner, the CEO, the sporting director, all the organisation. So I don't have doubt about that," Maresca said. "It will be a tough game, for sure. We need to be ready, the focus needs to be about the game, but we know the environment at Anfield," he added. "It probably will be worse because of the situation but, again, it will be our duty to do our best and try to win the game. The reason I decide to become manager is for this type of game."
Former England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport the delay in consequences damages the league's credibility. "I just think it's such a bad look that we're still having to wait for the consequences," Shearer said. "We've never seen anything like this. This is the biggest thing to happen to the Premier League since it started in 1992, that's how big it is. Credibility matters and you won't get anything different from any coach or player at Manchester City other than we're going to stick together and we believe in the club," he said. "They're about to find out the anger from every club, starting at Anfield," Shearer added. "It needs sorting out now because they've spent a fortune in the summer. They've won every game and that could still be the case in two months, three months, four months. They could end up winning the league. That's why it needs sorting out now because it's such a bad look if it's allowed to fester. The level of hostility will rise wherever they go."
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola, preparing for his first experience of the fixture, pointed to the uncertainty hanging over the competition. "The worst thing probably is the uncertainty. No-one knows what's going to happen. We have to focus on Liverpool and being the best club we can be, the best team we can be. That's my challenge," Iraola said. With talk of expulsion, relegation, titles stripped and record points deductions still to be decided through a lengthy appeal process, each victory now carries a qualification and each table an unseen asterisk, leading to suggestions the season could be rendered meaningless and be remembered as the "sham" Premier League season.