Man City players brace for hostile reception at Anfield after 115-charge guilty verdicts

Manchester City’s players will return to Premier League action at Anfield this weekend knowing they face a significantly more hostile reception than usual, days after the club was found guilty of nearly all counts in the long-running 115-charge case brought by the Premier League.

The atmosphere around City players at away grounds is nothing new. For more than three years, opposition supporters have directed chants and individual comments at players relating to the charges. One recent example came at Selhurst Park in August, when new £116m signing Elliot Anderson was heckled on his way to the dressing room. “Elliot — one-one-five: are you sure?” came the shout. Anderson paused, clocked the source, laughed, and walked on.

Anfield represents the most difficult possible first fixture after the verdicts. Yet a number of Liverpool supporters are already managing expectations, aware that Arne Slot’s side is still finding its feet under a new head coach who has yet to win there in the Premier League. Andoni Iraola will welcome the extra noise from the home end, but comparisons to the infamous 2017 Champions League quarter-final — when the City team bus was attacked outside the ground and the hosts raced to a 3-0 half-time lead — appear wide of the mark. That rivalry has lost much of its edge since.

Even Jürgen Klopp, who once spoke about throwing parties to mark a City guilty verdict, could not bring himself to express outright delight when asked about the outcome recently.

The City women’s team has already experienced the post-verdict atmosphere first-hand. Former City defender Nedum Onuoha described what happened when the squad travelled to London as the news broke. “They got to Euston and there was a bus with a Man City badge on,” he said. “When they arrived at the hotel, some of the stuff being said — to call it inappropriate would be an understatement.”

The men’s squad can expect similar treatment, particularly at away fixtures where, for tens of thousands of rival supporters, matchday will be their most direct opportunity to respond to the verdicts. City’s players have navigated this environment for years. The scale and intensity may have shifted, but the experience itself is familiar ground.