Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, their first match since an independent commission found them guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations. The result left Enzo Maresca’s side top of the table with six wins from six, but the wider picture remains deeply uncertain.
Those points could count for nothing if City’s appeal against the commission’s findings fails. The commission found more than 100 breaches of league rules. No sanction has been decided, although the club could face a severe points deduction that would lead to relegation, or even expulsion from the English top flight.
Appeal leaves City’s results under a cloud
There is also speculation that City could be stripped of the three league titles they won between 2009 and 2018, the period to which the charges relate. The appeal process is likely to drag on for months, casting doubt over every City result and carrying wide implications for other clubs.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville, now a pundit, said on television that the club’s situation was hard to read. “We’re sat here not knowing what it means,” he said. He added that City’s supporters would be pleased with the win but did not yet appear to recognise the damage the case could do to the club.
Chief football writer Phil McNulty said the victory at Anfield had been overshadowed by events off the pitch. “Every victory, every league table, will come with a metaphorical asterisk until clarity and finality comes,” he said. “No one knows when this will be.”
Liverpool and the relegation battle face knock-on effects
Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool are ninth in the table, nine points behind City. Even if they fail to mount a title challenge, the three points lost on Sunday could prove costly in the race for a Champions League place.
Potential sanctions against City could also affect the fight to avoid relegation. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher asked what the result meant going forward. “This has to be done before the end of the season,” he said on television. “There’s no way this can carry on to the end of the season because we’re all getting kidded.”
Liverpool have reason to feel aggrieved, having finished second behind the Manchester club in the league three times in the past 12 years. City’s rivals believe spending by the Abu Dhabi-backed club in the 2009-2018 period laid the foundations for a golden era that continues to bear fruit.
Commission findings and City’s spending under scrutiny
The Premier League announced late last month that the commission had found City had arranged “sham” deals to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018. The club denies nothing in the source’s account beyond what is stated here, and the case has been running for years.
City also spent around £460 million ($609 million) in the 2026 summer transfer window, a new Premier League record for a single window. Maresca reshaped the squad after the departure of Pep Guardiola. Midfielder Elliot Anderson, one of the expensive new signings, said the criticism had galvanised the players at Anfield.
“We’ve got to stick together,” said the England midfielder. “I think it really brings us together. It gives you that determination to come out here, everyone is against you, and turn them over, which we did.”
Anderson and his teammates must now adjust to their new reality while English football waits for a definitive decision. Chants, banners, flags and scarves at Anfield showed that opposition fans accuse City of cheating their way to the top, and they show no sign of staying quiet.
