Premier League pundits are split ahead of this weekend's clash between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield. It is the first time City have played domestic football since being found guilty of all but one of their alleged financial breaches.
City have appealed that verdict and have doubled down on their innocence. An independent commission found City guilty of engaging in a scheme to inflate revenues and reduce costs by around £900 million over a nine-season period. The commission found City guilty on all counts of breaching financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Hostile Atmosphere Expected
The report stated that City used 'sham' commercial deals to disguise owner funding and arrangements to lower operating costs such as coach and player wages. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called the case, and the decision, "the most significant in Premier League history."
City, who lead the way at the top of the Premier League, are expected to be met with a hostile atmosphere at Anfield as they return to domestic action, and the pundits cannot agree on who will win the game.
Pundits Give Their Verdicts
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."
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.
City's Response Under Scrutiny
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 added: "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's prediction: 1-2.
