Liverpool fans greet guilty Man City with boos and 'cheats' banners at Anfield

Manchester City arrived at Anfield on Sunday to a wall of boos and chants of ‘cheating b*ds’ from Liverpool supporters, making their first Premier League appearance since an independent commission found them guilty of breaching the league’s financial rules.

City were charged with 115 rule breaches by the Premier League in 2023, and the commission found them guilty of the majority. The club maintain their innocence and have launched an appeal, claiming to hold ‘irrefutable evidence’ to support their case. A resolution to that appeal is not expected before December or January at the earliest.

Should City fail in their appeal, potential punishments range from heavy fines and points deductions to expulsion from the Premier League — outcomes that have prompted widespread debate among managers, fans and pundits alike.

The commission found that City inflated their revenues by £900m through disguised funding schemes across the 2009–2018 period, during which they won three Premier League titles. Liverpool were runners-up in 2013/14, a season that has since become a particular source of grievance among the club’s supporters.

Outside Anfield, merchandise sellers did a brisk trade in flags and scarves bearing City players’ images alongside the words ‘guilty’ and ‘cheats’. Supporters lined the streets around 90 minutes before kick-off to greet the team buses. City’s two coaches took an alternate, quieter route to the stadium to avoid the crowds, while Liverpool’s bus arrived to loud cheers.

Inside the ground, City’s players were met with a chorus of boos as they walked onto the pitch. A banner in one corner of the stadium read: ‘A generation of supporters cheated.’ Merseyside Police deployed drones and increased their officer presence around the ground to maintain order.

City manager Enzo Maresca had acknowledged the atmosphere his side would face at Friday’s pre-match press conference. ‘It will be a tough game for sure. Tough test. We need to be ready,’ he said. ‘The focus has to be about the game.’