It has never been confirmed whether Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour was once a Liverpool fan.
Or whether Graeme Souness’ claim that he tried to buy the Merseysiders before transforming a club that went 35 years without winning a trophy is actually true. What is a matter of fact is that the only City game Mansour has attended in the 14 seasons since his takeover is the 3-0 victory over Liverpool in August 2010.
That was the night former City chief executive Garry Cook ventured into the dressing room for the first and only time to tell Mark Hughes’ players they had to win. There will be no need to remind Pep Guardiola’s current team what’s at stake when blue faces red at the Etihad Stadium.
City versus Liverpool has become one of the Premier League’s fiercest rivalries. And while respect exists between Pep Guardiola, an enmity has seeped into both clubs. The bottle and brick attack on City’s team bus before Liverpool’s 3-0 Champions League win at Anfield in April 2018 is the most graphic illustration of that.
Merseyside Police’s announcement about the route the vehicle would take and their refusal to agree to City’s request to change it, was compounded by their failure to lay a single change. A subsequent meeting with the chief constable was described by one City official present as “an insult to our intelligence.”
This is the third title race between the clubs in the last nine years that has gone right to the wire. Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea in 2014 enabled Manuel Pellegrini’s City to win their last three games to snatch the title away from Brendan Rodgers’ Reds.
Three years ago, Liverpool amassed 97 points and lost one game all season - at the Etihad. But Guadiola beat Klopp to the Premier League by a point - and although Jordan Henderson hoisted his club’s first title in 30 years 12 months later, City took the crown back at a canter last season.
They seemed set to retain it when they opened up a 14-point advantage in January. Guardiola described the lead as “fake” due to Liverpool having two games in hand -and the gap is now down to a point now.
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, City have won 338 points, Liverpool 337. It’s THAT close. Guardiola and Klopp have never been friendly. “The best of enemies,” was how one City insider described their relationship.
Their rivalry dates back to their time in Germany when the Catalan won three successive Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund could do nothing about it. But at boardroom level, it’s fair to say there is nothing but contempt between American owners who have questioned the way their Abu Dhabi counterparts fund their club.
Have Your Say! Who will win the title this season? Join the debate here.
When City announced a £400million sponsorship deal with Etihad in the summer of 2011, Liverpool’s former chief executive Ian Ayre questioned its legality. Owner JW Henry took to Twitter to ask “How much was the losing bid?”
Liverpool’s stance was not forgotten when City were banned from European competition for two years and fined £25m after UEFA found them guilty of breaking Financial Fair Play Regulations. City felt the verdict was based on faulty evidence, were unhappy about unofficial leaks to the media, and that former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry was involved in the investigation.
Parry had been appointed chief executive of the EFL by the time the verdict was announced. City won their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - but were fined £10m for refusing to cooperate with the UEFA probe.
Ironically, Parry’s son, Tom, has worked for City as a nutritionist for the last 13 years and is a popular member of staff. There is also the mysterious case of an alleged computer hack. In 2013, it was reported that City had employed a team of forensic experts to investigate whether their scouting system had been illegally accessed.
It took seven years for the FA to announce they had spoken to both Liverpool and City, but would not be taking any action because the Merseysiders had paid £1m to their rivals over the matter. Liverpool and City have a common enemy in Manchester United. It is just about the only thing both clubs agree on.
