Liverpool supporters are organising a fiery welcome outside Anfield for Manchester City, in what will be the ‘Sky Blues’ first fixture since being found guilty of financial breaches.
The Manchester club, found guilty of more than a hundred financial breaches, will play their first match since the independent commission’s verdict this Sunday at Anfield in the Premier League.
Supporters’ groups on Merseyside are organising a coach welcome along one of the primary roads leading into Anfield, the customary route taken by team buses, urging fans to bring flags, banners and flares to produce a “red wave”.
A cauldron of hostility is anticipated at Anfield towards Manchester City, with the ‘Reds’ feeling deeply aggrieved as one of the clubs most heavily compromised by the financial irregularities uncovered by the Premier League in England.
Although Liverpool did not lose out on any league titles directly to them during the breach period—which spans from 2009 to 2018—fans believe the €1 billion distorted across those nine years had a lasting impact on subsequent campaigns, when Jurgen Klopp’s side finished as runners-up on multiple occasions behind Pep Guardiola’s team.
City have appealed the independent commission’s ruling, with a definitive resolution expected in the coming weeks. Should the verdict be upheld, sanctions are anticipated to be handed down before the close of the season.
