Erling Haaland and Manchester City’s other star players have watched from a distance as the club dealt with the fallout from being found guilty of large-scale financial wrongdoing in the biggest scandal in Premier League history.
asserted
club → watch → history
Now they have to face the music.
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they → have → music
City’s first game back after an international window dominated by the explosive verdict in its long-running case with the Premier League comes on Sunday.
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game → dominate → Sunday
And it just had to be at Anfield.
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it → have → Anfield
A trip to Liverpool has long been considered the toughest, most fearsome away game of the season by City.
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trip → consider → City
It just got even tougher, with Haaland, Rayan Cherki and the rest likely entering a cauldron of hate and anger this weekend.
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Haaland → get → hate
Liverpool might consider itself the team which suffered most from the slew of financial misdemeanors carried out by City, according to the findings of an independent investigatory panel, between 2009-18 — the period when City’s Abu Dhabi ownership was assembling a squad that would later dominate English soccer.
uncertain
that → consider → soccer
Those findings are the subject of an appeal by City, which continues to assert its innocence.
asserted
which → continue → innocence
Under former coach Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool won the Premier League in 2020 but the team also finished second to Pep Guardiola’s City by one point in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons following memorable title races that raised the bar in terms of points earned and the standard of football played.
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that → win → football
What helped City to reach that level was nearly a decade of rule-breaking, the independent panel has found.
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panel → help → breaking
So, expect Liverpool fans to be seething inside and outside of Anfield.
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fans → expect → Anfield
They’ll believe they are owed some titles.
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they → believe → titles
Aside from Phil Foden, who is suspended for the match, no current member of City’s squad even played for the club from 2009-18.
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member → suspend → 2009
Enzo Maresca took over as City manager only in June.
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Maresca → take → June
Still, they will be the ones bearing the brunt of the widespread discontent from fan bases up and down the country in the coming months.
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they → bear → months
What will be intriguing is who from City’s ownership or board attends the Liverpool game.
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who → attend → game
How much will the matter weigh on the players under the most intense pressure?
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matter → weigh → pressure
And what will be the reaction of City’s match-going supporters, with the future of their club so uncertain — the potential sanctions include a huge points deduction, even expulsion from the Premier League — and the violations of its ownership clear for all to see in the commission’s verdict?
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all → go → verdict
City leads the league on a maximum 15 points from five games — all of which were played when the club was being accused of those financial breaches.
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club → lead → breaches
Now the guilty verdict has arrived, it’s time to see the impact on the team — and the reaction of its rivals.
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it → arrive → rivals
The first game back after an extended three-week break for internationals is Arsenal, the defending champion, at home to Leeds on Saturday lunchtime.
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game → defend → lunchtime
Manchester United hosts Tottenham — in last place on two points — in one of five other games on Saturday.
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United → host → Saturday
Players to watch
The international window was marked by a raft of injuries to high-profile Premier League players.
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window → watch → players
Now to see how serious they are.
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they → see → ?
Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo returned to Liverpool for assessment of injuries picked up playing for Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively, and are currently doubts for the Liverpool-City game.
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Isak → return → game
So might be Haaland, who asked to be substituted midway through the second half of Norway’s final Nations League game, but that might have been because of fatigue.
uncertain
that → ask → fatigue
Kai Havertz, who has been the starting striker for Arsenal this season, was injured in the first of four games played by Germany — though that was two weeks ago now.
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that → injure → Germany
Out of action
Certain to be missing is Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, who is out for up to eight weeks with a thigh injury sustained on England duty.
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who → miss → duty
Scott is a key player in a Bournemouth team without a win so far and heading into its first ever European campaign next week.
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Scott → head → campaign
Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey also is facing a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury playing for the Netherlands.
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asserted
Brobbey → face → Netherlands
The Aporia
