Manchester City have been found guilty of more than 100 Premier League charges, many relating to financial rule breaches during the 2009-18 period. The club, which continues to strongly maintain its innocence, was cleared on one count concerning non-cooperation with the investigation carried out by an independent commission. City said they are "disappointed and surprised" by the ruling.
The Manchester club won three Premier League titles during the period in question, under three different managers. While sanctions have yet to be determined, clubs who finished as runners-up in the affected seasons will be wondering what could have been, as will those who finished behind City and narrowly missed out on European spots.
Liverpool and Everton's alternate seasons
Liverpool and Everton are among the clubs impacted. Most notably, Liverpool finished second behind City in the 2013/14 title race, while Everton were just outside the top four in the same campaign. Several prominent figures, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, have called for City to be stripped of those titles, relegated and subjected to substantial fines.
Voiding City's results produces revised Premier League tables that illustrate how things could have been different for Merseyside's two clubs. In the first two seasons concerned, neither Liverpool nor Everton were challenging at the top. However, removing City's results would see Everton qualify for Europe in 2010 and Liverpool sneak up to seventh a year later.
Removing City's results in 2012/13 would see Liverpool overtake Everton and claim a European berth, because Everton took four points off the league runners-up compared to Liverpool's two.
The 2013/14 title that might have been
The season after that is the big one. Not only would Liverpool be crowned champions in the alternate table, but Everton would qualify for the Champions League. That painful final day, with Liverpool denied top spot by City, would no longer be a factor. A seat at European football's top table would be the reward for Roberto Martinez delivering Everton's best ever Premier League points tally.
Moving to 2015/16, removing City's results would give Jurgen Klopp a Europa League spot in his first season at Anfield. There is little notable change for the Merseyside clubs one year either side of that, though things would be different in the final season affected by City's charges.
European qualification changes
Everton finished one place outside the European spots in 2017/18, with Burnley progressing to the Europa League qualifying rounds in their stead. Without City, they would get more European football while Liverpool would also climb a spot to third.
Removing City's results could have led to more European football for both Everton and Liverpool. However, there is no change as big as that in the 2013/14 campaign, which would have seen Liverpool crowned champions some six years before they finally broke their Premier League duck for good.
Of course, the Premier League was not the only competition in which City competed between 2009 and 2018. City beat Liverpool in the 2016 League Cup final, denying Klopp what might have been a first trophy at the club. Everton were denied by City in the same competition, losing 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals. For now, it remains to be seen how all of this is resolved.
