Manchester City return to Premier League action this weekend with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool, marking their first domestic appearance since being found guilty of all but one of the financial violations alleged against them. The club have lodged an appeal against the ruling and continue to maintain their innocence.
An independent commission found City guilty of operating a scheme to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by approximately £900 million across a nine-season spell. The commission concluded that City breached financial regulations on all counts between 2009-10 and 2017-18. The report revealed that City used 'sham' commercial arrangements to conceal owner funding and deals designed to reduce operating expenses, including coaching staff and player wages.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters described the case and its outcome as "the most significant in Premier League history." City, who currently sit top of the Premier League table, are widely expected to face a hostile reception at Anfield, with pundits unable to agree on the likely outcome of the fixture.
Pundit predictions split
Speaking to Sky Sports, Paul Merson said: "It's a huge game [for Andoni Iraola]. If they go and draw this game on Sunday against Manchester City, if you're at Bournemouth, that's a good result. If you're at Liverpool and you haven't beaten Manchester City at home and there's no [Erling] Haaland, this is headline news. It'll be another game where he's not won a game at home, but I do like the manager."
Merson added: "I'm a great believer in the Premier League rising to the top. He's a top manager and you've got to remember when he first came in at Bournemouth, they were the last team to win in the Premier League that season, and look what he went on and done. It's just phenomenal. The pressure is on him to get that first win. We've seen other managers who have struggled at Liverpool. For me, and I mean good managers, it's a big game for him, but he'll be more than happy if Haaland doesn't play."
He continued: "You don't want to be nine points behind. I know it's still early, there's lots of games, but at the same time, when you're looking up and if Manchester City are nine points ahead of you, it's not an ideal position to be in. They're going to have to be aggressive. They have to go and try and win the game because they don't want that gap to increase."
Merson concluded: "Nine points is a lot. If I said at the start of the season, we all sat on this panel at the start of the season, and I said, who do you think wins the league, Liverpool or Manchester City? And I said, I'll have Manchester City and you've got to give me nine points head start. I'd have Manchester City over Arsenal with nine points head start. That's a lot of points, nine points, even though I do think Arsenal will win it quite comfortably. It's a must-not-lose game. And the longer this season goes on, the players will get used to playing under the manager. Hopefully [Florian] Wirtz will find his form. I'm a big fan of Wirtz and he just hasn't got going at the moment. And hopefully, the more confidence the manager gives him and they get passages of play, then Liverpool will start on a charge."
Haaland fitness a key factor
Speaking to Betfair, Alan Shearer said: "This is a huge game. Liverpool are coming into this one with a few injuries off the back of the international break, but City have injury doubts with Haaland as well after he came off for Norway. I don't think City have got a great record there at Anfield. So, I'm going to go home win for Liverpool in what will be a red hot atmosphere. You can just imagine how the fans will be at Anfield."
Shearer added: "I know all eyes are going to be on the game for obvious reasons. I said it would be red hot, it will be white hot, I think, in terms of how they're going to react to the situation that City are going through off the pitch. It's going to be a cracking game, and cracking atmosphere." His prediction: Liverpool win.
Chris Sutton told BBC Sport: "It's a mammoth game. Everyone is looking at this game to see if City's players appear deflated and how much it will affect them. We don't know what the implications are for this season, either. They are top of the league at the moment but will they get a massive points deduction that changes that? I've heard people suggest that City's players will be frazzled because of what is going on with the club off the pitch, but I don't see it that way."
Sutton continued: "I suspect that, along with the City fans, there will be this siege mentality now where they think 'everyone hates us, everyone wants us to lose, everyone wants us to be relegated' - even if I don't think that is actually the case, because there are actually a lot of balanced football fans out there. City are likely to get a hostile reception at Anfield but I think they will be able to handle it. Liverpool are still a work in progress under Andoni Iraola too. They have not convinced me so far when I've watched them this season."
Sutton added: "Based on all of that, I am going for City here. I can just picture Erling Haaland scoring their winner, and celebrating with a big grin on his face." His prediction: Liverpool 1-2 City.
