Manchester City's win at Anfield was not a good look for the Premier League, and it feels as though Liverpool and other teams are now being punished for another club's misdemeanors
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 11: Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson, Ruben Dias and Enzo Fernandez of Manchester City applaud the fans before the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City at Anfield on October 11, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester City's players applaud the club's fans at Anfield(Image: Getty Images)
One game was more than enough. Manchester City has had its fun - it’s time now for it to get its retribution.
Sunday was supposed to be City’s reckoning. It was going to feel the full force of an angry Anfield, and surely that would see its players wilt as its empire crumbled.
Instead, it seemed like it was party time for the Etihad club’s players and fans. This is a club that has just been found guilty of financial breaches on a never-before-seen scale - so why does it feel like everyone else has to be punished for their misdemeanors first?
Watching on as a Liverpool fan, I felt the urge to switch off my TV the moment Erling Haaland turned the ball home. Not because of my team’s performance, or because it wasn’t an entertaining watch - far from it.
But the sight of a club revelling in being caught felt like insult being added to the injury of having numerous titles stolen away over the years.
We’ve spent the past couple of weeks being told City would face punishments like we’ve never seen before. Yet here they were on Liverpool’s patch, players beating the badge on their chest in defiance, fans cosplaying as their owners and singing the name of Sheikh Mansour - remind me again why we should feel sorry for them if they get expelled?
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 11: A Manchester City fan dressed as a sheik celebrates after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City at Anfield on October 11, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester City's players and fans showed no shame at Anfield
This is an absolute farce - and it’s not just City who are to blame for it. The Premier League should have already taken action, and instead, we all just have to wait and take our beatings.
Andoni Iraola has a first defeat to his name as Liverpool boss now, and one of his most important players is now suspended for the next fixture - all for the sake of a game which could be rendered completely meaningless in the near future.
In what world is this fair? And it’s not just Liverpool, countless other teams are now going to end up being punished for someone else’s crimes.
More players could get suspended, maybe injured at City’s hands. Teams fighting relegation could have their momentum halted. Managers could be fired.
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Sanctions should have been dealt the moment City was found guilty. Give them the opportunity to appeal, by all means, but don’t let them carry on their merry way as if they can still have something to play for this season.
As long as City remains unpunished, it will be the other teams in the Premier League who have to suffer. Liverpool is just the first, and many more will now follow.
We waited more than three years for a verdict to be reached, and now we’re just supposed to carry on sitting on our hands and let them celebrate win after win? No chance.
The Premier League shouldn’t have let it get to this stage. They are as culpable in this current farce as City is, and it’s past time we actually see some action being taken.