Manchester City take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday evening in a monumental fixture whose build-up has been dominated by an independent commission finding the Blues guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules.
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City have been rocked by being found guilty of artificially inflating sponsorship revenue between 2009-18 and a failure to co-operate with the Premier League's investigation.
Over three-and-a-half years since they were first charged by the Premier League in February 2023, the Blues have filed a comprehensive appeal against the verdict given by a three-member independent panel.
The appeal board will also have a similar make-up and as Manchester City await the commencement of proceedings, several Premier League rivals are reported to be preparing civil compensation claims linked to the period covered by the charges for a net £800 million.
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca discussed the guilty verdict at great length in his pre-Liverpool press conference, although pointing out that the conference was aimed at discussing the trip to Anfield - when asked whether it shouldn't have been him but rather a club executive taking questions on the verdict.
Suggestions that Manchester City's owners could be compelled to sell the club as a consequence of the Premier League's independent commission verdict are unlikely to materialise in the near term, as per a new report.cityxtra.co.ukWill Man City's Abu Dhabi Owners Be Forced to Sell the Club as Guilty Verdict Appeal Process Begins?
Suggestions that Manchester City's owners could be compelled to sell the club as a consequence of the Premier League's independent commission verdict are unlikely to materialise in the near term, as per a new report.
Maresca has doubled down on his trust in the club, with Manchester City vehemently denying any and all wrongdoing and pointing in their statement in response to the September 29 verdict to a body of 'irrefutable evidence' they posses that will find them innocent in the appeal process.
The financial scandal Manchester City find themselves at the heart of has attracted interest and comments from leading figures in world football, though the Blues do in fact return to matters on the pitch on Sunday evening.
City seek to extend their winning start to the Premier League campaign to six games against Andoni Iraola and co, having impressed at the start of what remains a nascent period of their transition from Pep Guardiola to Maresca.
Erling Haaland has been deemed fit and available for the fixture after Manchester City fans were fearful of a potential fitness issue when the Norway international asked to be taken off in his nation's 2-1 UEFA Nations League loss to Portugal last week.
Liverpool will be without Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo on Sunday as Maresca faces his biggest test since stepping into the Manchester City dugout in June.
Manchester City have the world's attention and in the backdrop of as eventful a 10 days as they come away from the pitch, the Blues can remind all doubters that it remains business as usual when they step out on the pitch at Anfield.
Ahead of Sunday's 16:30 UK kick-off in Merseyside, here are the confirmed line-ups from the Liverpool and Manchester City:
Liverpool
Starting XI: Alisson, Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Wirtz, Munoz, Koumas, Barcola
Substitutes: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Tsimikas, Frimpong, Nyoni, McConnell, Ngumoha
Manchester City
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guehi, O'Reilly, Anderson, Fernandez, Ndiaye, Cherki, Semenyo, Haaland
Substitutes: Rulli, Kovacic, Doku, Reis, Gvardiol, Bouaddi, Allan, Khusanov, Lewis