Man City supporters would be forgiven for having a fair few things on their minds at the moment.
As pressure builds on the Premier League amid the 10-point deduction imposed on Everton, Man City's 115 charges have once again become a huge talking point. And with the visit of familiar title rivals Liverpool on Saturday, there's plenty on Pep Guardiola's plate right now.
With Liverpool’s crucial game against Manchester City fast approaching on Saturday, we spoke to a Citizen to get their perspective on the match.
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The teams come into the game only separated by a single point, with the top five teams covered by just three points. A City victory sometimes appears inevitable, but how do their fans feel this time around?
We spoke to Phoebe, a City fan, who said: “I think it’s going to be a tough match, [but] City fans are relatively confident.
"We’ve got a lot of injury problems but with our squad depth we can still put out a world class Starting XI. The biggest worry is Salah, who’s in relentless goal scoring form”.
The Egyptian forward already has 12 goals in all competitions this season, and only Erling Haaland is above him in the league goals. It feels somewhat likely that they will both add to their tally at the weekend.
It’s a meeting between first and second in the league, but in terms of the title race, do City fans see Liverpool as a threat?
Phoebe said: “I think they are yes. They’ve invested in younger players and revamped their midfield, which is providing excellent service to their forwards.”
"Once Liverpool are in a good run of form it’s really hard to disrupt that, but I still see City coming away with the title at the end of the season.”
Manchester City always seem to finish the season better than they start. Last year, they went on a streak of over 20 games unbeaten in the league, and in 2018/19 they only failed to win once after Boxing Day. But these remarkable runs of history-making brutality are often required because of their slow starts, and so maybe this is the right time to play the reigning champions.
We also asked Phoebe about FFP, with Everton’s recent points deduction and Manchester City embroiled in an ongoing investigation, it’s an interesting perspective.
On whether Everton’s points deduction is fair, she said: “It certainly shows that the governing bodies mean business with FFP”.
Since the deduction was announced, many have also speculated about what may happen to City since 115 breaches of Premier League rules were announced.
Phoebe said: “Should they be proven guilty, it’s clear that the punishment will be severe so that’s made City fans are quite anxious, but the club are determined that they’ve done nothing wrong so hopefully it doesn’t come to anything”.
It remains to be seen what will happen with those charges, and the game on Saturday, where Liverpool will look to take the initiative early in the title race.
