Key events
More correspondence! This one is from Morgan Blake: “Regarding the banner at Old Trafford (as per John Brewin’s excellent piece), it looks to me like a tape counter scrolling up from 50 to 51, so I think it is accurate. 50 years at the start of this season, 51 at the end of it. It’s nicely done in my opinion. As a Liverpool fan winning today still very much matters, even if only to provide catharsis. Like you said, it is a strange limbo period and may eventually be looked back on as rather empty and meaningless. But here, today, as a great man once said: ‘I will love it if we beat them.’ How likely that is, well that’s another matter!”
The email link is at the top of the page if you want to share your thoughts.
Jonathan Wilson
Why we’re stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich
Football, the world’s most popular sport, played by laws drawn up in London in 1863. The Premier League is the UK’s greatest soft power export. Premier League clubs are owned by a deputy prime minister of Abu Dhabi, the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia, a billionaire based in Monaco for tax reasons and a disappointing assortment of investors and private equity funds. And what, really, could be more British than that? Football truly is the national game.
What the Manchester City case has exposed is just how difficult it is to regulate some of the richest and most powerful bodies in the world. While the wait for the verdict was frustrating, it’s perhaps unavoidable given the possibility of legal objection at every turn when a leaked email from City’s in-house lawyer during Uefa’s action against the club had threatened to “spend 30 million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next 10 years”. You didn’t get that with Albert Alexander Sr or Peter Swales.
Jonathan Wilson’s latest column ahead of Liverpool v City:
We’ve had a few emails, keep them coming. Dave Estherby writes: “Two performances that will be vital to this afternoon’s shenanigans are that of Chris Kavanagh and the Merseyside plod; it’s gonna be spicy on the pitch and raucous in the stands – both of which are fine but it’s a pretty low bar these days and it could be very easy to lose control of the occasion and then do too much, or not enough afterwards. Game on!”
Karen Timms adds: “These are troubling issues indeed. Have read so much commentary and we, as City fans and one Mancunian in Australia, are arriving at a focus on the whole Premier League setup and the English mercantile attitude to it’s own culture. Also debating whether any individual who achieved prominence through City success and sailed on to glory is now suspect and ‘guilty’ by association. Former players, staffers, assistant managers? Overall sad and disappointed for the lifelong fans.”
Jamie Jackson
Maresca maintains almost total control as he follows Manchester City owners’ line
Enzo Maresca’s first public display since Manchester City were found guilty on virtually all counts of breaching Premier League financial rules was controlled – apart from the sole, and telling, slip-up of his very first answer.
In Thursday’s pre-emptive PR move, the club had Maresca tell their channels that he was aware of the “noise” around City. Fast forward 24 hours, and to a packed media conference of 45 attendees – around a threefold increase on the norm – at the Etihad Campus, the Italian was asked if this was dismissive of the anger felt towards the club’s cheating. “I understand the reason why most of you are here but the only thing I can say is that there is a process ongoing and in this moment I completely trust the club,” he replied.
This correspondent’s radar bleeped at the use of “in this moment” and, when the microphone was passed, Maresca was quizzed if this meant he may change his mind. “Sorry, that was the wrong answer. I completely trust the club in this moment, in the future, always.” But there was no denying the initial response and how this points to these shaky times for all at City.
Read Jamie Jackson’s full piece on the role of Enza Maresca in the City saga:
Barney Ronay
The Premier League is back: welcome to the new era of post-verdict unreality
The internet: an apology. It turns out you were right. It was actually a simulation all along. Now, talk to me about chemtrails again. And yes, maybe Vinícius Júnior has been replaced by a handsome, baffled-looking waxwork.
Welcome to the weirdest weekend of them all. We are now post-judgment, post-statement, postlapsarian. As the Premier League prepares to snap back into what must be described, out of habit, as reality, armed with the knowledge its serial champions have been the authors of a 10-year sham supremacy, the first question is fairly simple. How is it going to feel?
There is no precedent for this. Even the state of total confusion feels brittle given City maintain their complete state of innocence and deny all charges. We await the release of Irrefutable Body of Evidence, the great lost Madonna erotic thriller sequel, presumably recast around a steamy three-year regulatory tribunal scenario.
City’s appeal defence appears to be based around the government giving them money. This may or may not be related to how you control what the high court considers admissible. But it is also implied confirmation that the club is the propaganda tool of an overseas state, that Kyle Walker, for example, has basically been a civil servant all these years. Maybe the United Arab Emirates should have six stars on the national team jersey, one for each title. They even look like asterisks.
Read Barney Ronay’s latest column in full:
Andy Hunter was Andoni Iraola’s Friday press briefing…
Iraola: ‘Uncertainty is no good for anyone’
Andoni Iraola understands the anger among Liverpool supporters towards Manchester City and believes the Premier League needs a resolution to the scandal engulfing English football as swiftly as possible.
Iraola avoided condemning City during his first press conference since the club were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules on an industrial scale over nine years. City have lodged an appeal against the findings and Liverpool’s head coach admitted a final, definitive verdict is essential for the good of the game. “I think it should be [concluded quickly],” he said. “There should be a moment when something comes from this, but now is not that moment. Nobody knows what is going to happen and I think this uncertainty is no good for anyone.”
What did the respective mangers have to say before City’s trip to Liverpool?
Will Unwin was at Enzo Maresca’s pre-match presser…
Maresca ‘very calm’ despite storm engulfing club
Enzo Maresca says his players “don’t care about the noise” surrounding Manchester City. The manager and players reconvened on Thursday after spending the international break apart when the news of the club’s predicament was made public.
City maintain their innocence and have launched an appeal against the ruling, but if that fails could face a severe punishment. In the meantime, the staff and players are showing a strong front as they prepare for their first game in three weeks when they face Liverpool on Sunday.
“Personally I’m very calm to be honest,” Maresca told the club’s official website. “The club has been quite clear. We trust completely the club. We understand the noise but the focus for us is just what we can control and we can control just the football side.”
We’ve made it past a full hour on the blog and we’re yet to discuss this weekend’s main event. It’s a strange fixture in many ways, Liverpool have done little to suggest they are capable of stopping Manchester City on the field. Enzo Maresca’s side have won five from five and are top of the league. Yet, in this limbo period between the overhwelmingly guilty verdict and the sanctions coming down all of City’s matches will produce a result at the end of the 90 minutes that could be moot. If City win will it matter? If Liverpool win will it matter? This is the scale of the crisis facing the Premier League. This game is essentilly narrative cosplaying a competition.
I would be very keen to hear from readers on how they feel about the sporting spectacle at Anfield this afternoon. Drop me an email via the link at the top of the page on that or anything football-related.
Manchester United and Spurs come back to reality as City saga offers brief distraction
Turning back the clock is impossible. Up in the Stretford End’s middle tier, the ticker had returned, a retouching job to “51 years” invoiced for the pertinent sum of £114. The Manchester City that existed before the Abu Dhabi project won their last trophy in 1976. Questionable maths is perhaps not confined to the Etihad’s accounts department, though Manchester United’s support must get their kicks where they can.
Should City’s fall from grace be fully confirmed by the appeals and sanctions process, there is nothing in the way of irrefutable evidence of United’s former supremacy being restored. How United fans would love to return to 2008, when Michael Carrick was a key cog in Sir Alex Ferguson’s team of European champions. Instead, the autumn of 2026 brings a familiar swell of doubt, another manager dragged towards the meat grinder.
Read John Brewin’s take on another gloomy day at Old Trafford:
Savage the panto villain puts scepticism aside to leave Leicester reeling
It felt as though the stars had aligned when Robbie Savage’s first League One match in charge of Peterborough – his first EFL managerial role – happened to be at Leicester. He made his name here and forged a divisive and enduring reputation that has kept him a permanent fixture in English football.
Savage has long been a joker figure – an image born in his playing days, when he hurtled around midfields with long blond hair bouncing, launching into challenges that at one point made him the most booked player in Premier League history. A pantomime villain, a prankster and an eccentric who was once fined £10,000 by the Football Association – and two weeks’ wages by Leicester – for using referee Graham Poll’s toilet before a match (Savage blamed an upset stomach brought on by antibiotics.)
That persona followed him into the media after retirement and it hardly screams management material, yet Savage has quietly built a more serious reputation on the touchline in recent years.
Read Sam Cunningham’s full piece from the King Power Stadium:
In the Chamoionship, Swansea strengthened their position at the top of the Championship with a 2-1 comeback win over Norwich. Second-half goals from Moussa Yeo and the Republic of Ireland striker Adam Idah wiped out Jacob Wright’s strike just before the half-hour mark.
Middlesbrough celebrated their 150th anniversary game in style as Will Lankshear’s second-half header secured a 1-0 victory over Wolves at the Riverside Stadium.
Lamine Cissé and Ben Wilmot were on target as 10-man Stoke extended their unbeaten league run to six games with a 2-1 win over Bolton.
Burnley’s first win of the season, and their first away from home since February, sent Watford fans into open revolt as the Clarets cruised home 4-0 at Vicarage Road. Derby are still without a home win after Ollie Rathbone scored late on to earn Wrexham a 1-1 draw at Pride Park.
The full roundup from the second-tier is here:
Portugal suspend Cristiano Ronaldo after walking out on national team
Cristiano Ronaldo has been provisionally suspended as the Portuguese football federation (FPF) opened disciplinary proceedings against the 41-year-old after his decision to walk out on the national team.
Ronaldo apologised to supporters on Tuesday while criticising the Portugal coach, Jorge Jesus, and said he would serve any “suspension that is imposed” on him.
“Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, following a decision by the non-professional section on 9 October 2026,” the FPF said in a statement released on Saturday.
North of the border, Rangers went top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-1 in over Kilmarnock, while Hearts thumped St Mirren 5-0 and are nestled in behind the Old Firm before Celtic go to Motherwell today.
On the continent, Yan Diomandé earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Villarreal to keep them six points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, but in a tight game Vinícius Júnior was sent off for hair pulling.
Anthony Gordon scored his first goal for Barcelona as they extended their perfect start in La Liga with a 3-0 home win over Getafe. While Rayo Vallecano’s match against Athletic Club was abandoned because of home fans at Vallecas stadium throwing objects on to the pitch in a protest against the club president, Raúl Martin Presa.
In Germany, Augsburg’s Robin Fellhauer scored the fastest goal in Bundesliga history in his side’s draw 2-2 with Bayern Munich. The champions trailed twice but Harry Kane earned Bayern a point ten minutes from time.
Inter surged to the top of Serie A thanks to three goals in the first half-hour to defeat an outclassed Parma 3-0 at San Siro. Napoli cruised to a 3-0 victory at home to Frosinone with Scott McTominay making his comeback after heart surgery.
In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain eased to a 3-1 home victory over Le Mans, played out in a tense atmosphere amid student protests across France. Lille sit in second place after beating bottom club Le Havre 1-0.
Before we look ahead to today’s games let’s have a recap on yesterday’s action:
Manchester United 1-1 Tottenham: Dominic Solanke glanced in a late equaliser to earn ten-man Spurs a point at Old Trafford.
Chelsea 5-1 Bournemouth: Jordan Henderson scored twice on Moisés Caicedo’s return to Xabi Alonso’s first XI. Chelsea looked much more solid with the Ecuadorian in the team.
Arsenal 2-1 Leeds: The Gunners winning machine trundled back on track after falling behind with Bruno Guimarães completing the comeback.
Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford: Each team lead this game but for a cumalative time of only four minutes. Villa are still yet to win at home this season.
Ipswich 2-1 Fulham: Pressure is mounting on Álvaro Arbeloa after his side led this one until the 88th minute. The west London club now have no wins in six and are bottom of the table.
Sunderland 0-2 Brighton: Even going down to ten men can’t stop Brighton, Maxim De Cuyper continued his excellent form with another goal. Second-season syndrome for Sunderland?
Preamble
It’s not an understatement to say the atmosphere at Anfield will be ‘lively’ today. Liverpool are arguably the team that has lost out the most to Manchester City in the period covered by the Premier League’s rap sheet, so it is a gift from the narrative gods that this is the first game since the verdict dropped. So… City win?
In the meantime, here’s this week’s Jonathan Wilson column on … why we’re stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich.