Who: Liverpool vs Manchester City What: Premier League, matchday 6 Where: Anfield, Liverpool, United Kingdom When: Sunday, October 11, at 4:30pm local time ( ) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up and live updates from . Manchester City will face the full fury of Anfield on Sunday when the Premier League leaders confront old rivals Liverpool in their first game since being found guilty of breaking the competition’s financial rules. City can expect a hostile reception from Liverpool fans after an independent commission found they arranged “sham” deals to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2bn) between 2009 and 2018.
The financial breaches occurred during a period in which City won three Premier League titles and numerous other trophies, with Liverpool struggling to break the Etihad Stadium outfit’s silverware monopoly. City have appealed against the devastating verdict and manager Enzo Maresca was bullish that they will overturn the original ruling. But the Premier League season is now stuck in stasis awaiting a ruling on the appeal and any potential sanction.
Liverpool supporters have often created a febrile atmosphere for City’s visits since they emerged as title contenders following the takeover by their Abu Dhabi-based owners in 2008. This weekend’s showdown is likely to set a new standard for vitriol directed at City’s players and fans. An independent commission found Man City guilty of nearly all of the 115 charges of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
The Premier League said the commission found that City used schemes during the affected period to appear to comply with financial rules. City have continued to protest their innocence and have lodged an appeal, but if the decision is upheld, then points deductions, fines, transfer embargoes and relegation are all possible punishments for the club. A social media post promoting a “Bus greeting” has urged Liverpool supporters to gather near the stadium several hours before kickoff with flags, banners, pyrotechnics and flares ahead of the arrival of the City players’ bus.
Merseyside Police said there would be an appropriate policing operation in place on the day. There will be a reception like you have never seen for them at Anfield … it will be a brutal day.” Over the past 12 years, Liverpool have finished second to City on three occasions. Only one of those, in 2013-14, came during the period under scrutiny in this financial breach controversy.
But City’s rivals believe the wrongdoing in that period built the foundations for a golden era under former boss Pep Guardiola, who stepped down at the end of last season. Opta’s supercomputer has handed City a 40.7 percent chance of victory on Sunday. Liverpool have a 34.6 percent probability, while there is a 24.7 percent chance of a draw.
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