Our Liverpool fans' jury look ahead to Sunday's massive Premier League match at Anfield against Manchester City
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 01: Fans of Liverpool are seen with balloons of the numbers 1 and 5 during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield on December 01, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Liverpool supporters are sure to let Manchester City how they feel after the bombshell verdict was announced (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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Liverpool return to Premier League action this weekend with a bang as they welcome Manchester City to Anfield. The match was always going to be one of the most eagerly anticipated on the fixture calendar.
But given it will be City's first fixture since the club was found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the top-flight's financial rules over a nine-season period, it's safe to say that Sunday's showdown has just got that bigger.
Especially when Liverpool, more than most clubs, will feel wronged by what the Etihad Stadium have been found to have done between the years of 2009 and 2018.
READ MORE: Liverpool can get at unbeaten but reeling Man City - and this is exactly how
So it's against that backdrop that our Reds fans' jury have their say...
Rhys Buchanan
Games don’t come much bigger than Sunday afternoon do they? The noise around Man City has been rightly deafening over the long international break and naturally the footballing world will be watching on to see how their first fixture back since plays out. The truth is, the circumstances are much bigger than whatever happens on the pitch.
I’m expecting a totally professional performance from a team who have won every game in their campaign so far, but with the added confirmation and damning recent verdicts, Anfield will be bubbling with righteous anger from the first whistle that will make it very difficult for them.
We’ve show what we’re all about so far this season under the new manager so again it's just about staying focused. What at a platform to lay down a serious statement of intent as we head into a testing run of fixtures.
Matthew Whitty
You couldn’t have scripted it better. Manchester City arrive at Anfield on Sunday having been found guilty of serious financial breaches by an independent commission. They’ve appealed, as expected, but that’s for another day.
The Klopp–Guardiola era brought record points totals, titles decided by wafer-thin margins, euphoric highs and crushing lows. Those battles wrung just about every emotion imaginable out of us. As if this fixture needed any more edge.
Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp embraces Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 10, 2024. The Match ended in a draw at 1-1. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp embraces Pep Guardiola following their final meeting as managers of Liverpool and Manchester City respectively in March 2024(Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Anfield is special when we’re united behind a cause, and on Sunday we’ve certainly got one. Add a sense of injustice and the Kop will be at its ferocious, feral best. With City in outstanding form, Anfield must be as relentless as we expect our players to be.
City’s players will be in no doubt about the Kop’s verdict. They should feel they’re playing against every one of us, not just the 11 in red. Even the best teams have left Anfield with memories they’ll never forget. Let’s give City another.
A win won’t rewrite history or erase lingering questions, but beating City with the whole ground behind Liverpool would provide a much-needed cathartic release.
James Noble
Anfield beckons. Doesn’t it just. Sunday’s visit of Manchester City looked intriguing as we entered this international break. Its complexion has certainly developed since.
An independent commission finding City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League – including all related to serious financial breaches between 2009/10 and 2017/18 – has cued a whirlwind of a fortnight.
City maintain their innocence and have appealed against the long-awaited, and damning, verdict, while the understandable strength and range of feeling throughout football and beyond – about impacts, possible punishments and more – speaks volumes. It will be voiced consistently in grounds over the coming weeks and months.
How Liverpool invigoratingly navigated much of the impacted era now looks additionally praiseworthy. And, significantly, Andoni Iraola’s Reds remain in the midst of an encouraging developmental trajectory. This is a late afternoon that could supercharge it, but that process predates this contest and will continue beyond it. All the more reason to ensure the unprecedented context is helpfully channelled.
Sunday is an occasion that is likely to have a stand-alone essence to it, but it will have to be moved on from quickly. Trips to LASK and Brentford follow within six days.
Let’s make Anfield a match-winning cauldron. The Reds of yesteryear, today and tomorrow deserve it.
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