City Watch: Can Blues cope with hostile Anfield atmosphere?

I think we were all expecting a fairly quiet international break with City sitting three points clear at the top of the Premier League and seven wins from seven in all competitions, there was plenty to be positive about, and the focus was naturally going to be on getting ready for what is arguably our biggest test of the season so far at Anfield. 

Instead, the last week has brought even more developments surrounding the Premier League charges, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep this story away from the football itself.

Since my last column, Manchester City have officially lodged their appeal against the verdict, continuing to refute the allegations and insisting that the club is not guilty. 

That appeal will now be another major part of what is already an incredibly long process, and while the original verdict was obviously a huge shock given how confident the club had been throughout the case, I still don’t think we can draw too many conclusions until we know what happens next. 

We don’t know what sanctions will ultimately be imposed, and we don’t know whether the appeal will change any of the findings, so there is still a very long way to go before this is anywhere near finished.

What has perhaps surprised me more is how far this whole situation is now reaching beyond the football pitch. 

Former Manchester mayor and now Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spoken about the potential impact of the verdict and admitted he would be “really concerned to lose” City’s owners, describing them as “such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” and praising the investment that has gone into the club and the surrounding area. 

That’s quite a compliment coming from the man who was a big part in making what the city is today.

There have also been reports that the UAE could potentially reconsider some of its investment and funding in the UK if the verdict is upheld, although that remains a reported possibility rather than something that has happened. 

Regardless, when you start seeing the Manchester City case being discussed in terms of international investment and UK-UAE relations rather than football, it shows just how far this has moved away from what happens on the pitch. 

That isn’t something any City fan particularly wants to see, because ultimately we just want to talk about football.

The more I have thought about the whole situation over the last couple of weeks, though, I think what bothers me most isn’t even the potential punishment or what happens to City specifically. 

It is the Premier League’s rules themselves and whether they are actually fit for purpose. 

It is difficult to understand how the current system can look at the financial situations of different clubs and determine one to be compliant while another is facing allegations of financial wrongdoing on this scale.

Take Manchester United as an obvious example. 

They have been carrying around a billion pounds of debt while still operating within the Premier League’s framework, yet City are facing this enormous case over financial regulations. 

I’m not saying the two situations are identical, because they clearly aren’t, but it does seem strange that the rules can accommodate a club carrying that level of debt while simultaneously creating such a complicated set of regulations around how another club can generate and account for its revenue.

Whatever your opinion on Manchester City, I don’t think anyone can look at the current situation and say that something good is going to come from it. 

City fans are going to be divided, opposition fans are going to continue to have their say, and the club is going to spend the foreseeable future fighting the verdict through the appeal process. 

I suspect we are going to be talking about this for a while yet.

And unfortunately, now that club football is back, we are going to have to see how much of that follows City onto the pitch.

If you had asked me which game I wanted least immediately after the verdict came out, Liverpool away at Anfield would probably have been right at the top of the list. 

We already know exactly what the atmosphere is going to be like, and there has even been talk of a tifo in the Kop with the word “cheats” displayed across it. 

Our players are going to be abused, our supporters are going to be hounded and every decision involving City is likely to be scrutinised even more than usual.

However, these factors have the potential to make Sunday even more interesting.

 Pep Guardiola managed just one victory at Anfield in front of supporters during his time at City, which came last season, and now Enzo Maresca gets his first opportunity to experience one of the most difficult away games in English football. 

He has already passed his first major test by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford with ten men, and he has a perfect record since taking charge, but Anfield is another level of challenge.

There is also no getting away from the fact that the charges will be somewhere in the minds of the players. 

They are human beings, after all, and it would be impossible for them not to know what has been said about their club over the last couple of weeks but the question is how they respond to it.

Perhaps we can look back to the last time City were charged by the Premier League for some inspiration. 

That came during the 2022/23 season, and rather than allowing the situation to derail the team, the players responded by producing one of the greatest seasons in the club’s history. 

City went on to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, completing the treble.

Obviously, this is a different situation, with a different manager and plenty of different players, but there is no reason why adversity has to have a negative effect on this team. 

If anything, it gives them another opportunity to show the character that we have already seen in the opening weeks of this season, particularly in that derby victory at Old Trafford.

Seven wins from seven has given Maresca the perfect start, but Anfield will tell us a lot more about this City side. 

It will be hostile, it will be loud and there will be plenty of attention on us for reasons that have very little to do with football which makes Sunday’s game even more important.

The charges might be dominating the headlines right now, but ultimately, City have always been at their best when they let the football do the talking. 

Now we get to see whether this new look City side can do exactly that at Anfield.