Enzo Maresca has insisted that Manchester City's players will be unaffected by the off-field issues going on in the background ahead of Liverpool hosting the Etihad side on Sunday
Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca is under pressure following the guilty verdict
Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca is under pressure following the guilty verdict(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has insisted that his players will be unaffected by the guilty verdict issued by the Premier League ahead of taking on Liverpool this weekend.
Having won every game so far this term, the bombshell was dropped that Manchester City had been found guilty of the vast majority of the 115 charges that had been leveled at it. Because of the elongated international break, the trip to Anfield is the Etihad side's first match since the verdict dropped.
"The feeling is fantastic, to be honest," Maresca, the Italian former Chelsea manager who took over from Pep Guardiola this summer, told Manchester City club media.
"The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that.
"They know what we can control is the football side — they are not worried at all about different things.
"They know their profession and they know that the noise is there, but they don’t care too much about the noise.
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Enzo Maresca has broken his silence after Manchester City's guilty verdict
Enzo Maresca has broken his silence after Manchester City's guilty verdict(Image: Manchester City)
"They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield."
Last season, Manchester City won on Merseyside, though its record away at Liverpool is poor.
Dominik Szoboszlai had put Arne Slot's men 1-0 ahead fairly late on before Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland's goals completed the turnaround for a statement result.
This weekend, the atmosphere could have an extra edge as a result of Liverpool being arguably most wronged by the Manchester City cheating.
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Jurgen Klopp's side would have won more than the one league title had it not been coming up against the Guardiola juggernaut with which it competed several times, narrowly missing out.
Liverpool.com says: While the vibe in training might have been similar under Maresca, it remains to be seen how the players will feel moving forward.
With the threat of a points deduction or even expulsion from the league hanging over them, can they really continue to give 100 per cent even when things go against them? Even just a small percentage drop-off in performance will make a big difference.