Manchester City travel to Anfield unbeaten in the league, top of the table on 15 points, and thoroughly transformed off the pitch. Sixteen days before the trip they were told an independent commission had upheld 114 of 115 financial charges against them, and the international break has been spent drafting an appeal rather than resting for a title race.
Iraola’s first two months as Liverpool head coach have produced a run without a league defeat but three draws in five, and now two forwards on the treatment table.
Iraola waits on his two forwards
Cody Gakpo lasted 17 minutes for the Netherlands against Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday before a challenge from Sasa Lukic left him limping off. Netherlands head coach Xavi Hernandez gave a cautious first read at his post-match briefing.
“It’s his ankle, that’s all I know for now. I don’t think it’s so bad but tomorrow we will know for sure, but hopefully it’s not too big a problem.”
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Gakpo was withdrawn from the squad and returned to Merseyside for scans, with the club still waiting on the results.
Alexander Isak’s problem had surfaced 48 hours earlier. The striker scored inside 20 minutes of Sweden’s 2-1 win over Romania on Friday and finished the match, but was pulled from the squad the following day. Sweden head coach Graham Potter set out the reasoning after the game.
“He’s got a small problem with his thigh. It’s not a big one, but because of the amount of games we’ve got in a small space of time, he won’t be able to make those.”
Isak returned to Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre for club assessment, missing Sweden’s remaining Nations League fixtures against Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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City guilty on 114 of 115 charges
The Friday before the international window closed, an independent Premier League commission found Manchester City in breach on 114 of the 115 financial charges brought in 2023, covering conduct between 2009 and 2018. The lone charge that failed to stick was one of the 35 counts of failure to cooperate with the investigation.
The club’s response, reported by David Ornstein for The Athletic, rejected the ruling and pointed to an appeal.
“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.”
City have 14 days from the ruling to lodge that appeal, with the appeal hearing expected to conclude within 12 weeks. No sanction has yet been set, and no punishment can land before 11 October. Nothing on the pitch that afternoon will be altered by the paperwork; everything around it will be read through it.
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New men in both dugouts
Iraola signed a two-year contract at Anfield in June after three seasons at Bournemouth, replacing Arne Slot. Enzo Maresca took the Manchester City job in the same window, succeeding Pep Guardiola. Their first meeting is confirmed for 4.30pm BST on Sunday 11 October, a slot moved back a day from Saturday.
Erling Haaland arrives in typical form. He scored twice as Norway beat Denmark 3-2 on 24 September and added his 22nd Nations League goal three days later in a 2-1 defeat to Portugal in Oslo.
Liverpool sit sixth on nine points, six behind their visitors, with Isak’s scan the first result Iraola is waiting on this week.
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