After the Premier League confirmed all charges of serious financial regulation breaches against Manchester City, The Athletic reported that every upcoming away match will present a massive challenge and enormous pressure on manager Enzo Maresca. The team's next away fixture is at Anfield.

According to reports, Anfield will transform into a cauldron. For Manchester City, could there be a more daunting prospect than an evening away fixture against Liverpool after the international break, with the team returning to Premier League action?

An independent commission found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League charges after determining that club owners had helped circumvent domestic and European spending regulations through hidden investments exceeding £900 million ($1.2 billion), sparking widespread outrage across football and calls for severe punishment.

The relevant parties claim to have strong grounds for appeal and are prepared to pursue all legal avenues, suggesting that at minimum, this long and painful legal battle shows no signs of ending.

However, the details of the guilty verdict are shocking, and the remaining legal procedures are irrelevant to the thousands of fans who will flood into Liverpool's home stadium 11 days later. They are equally irrelevant to supporters of other clubs who have felt for years that Manchester City deserved serious punishment—and the committee's decision will vindicate their concerns.

If the Premier League pursues title stripping, Liverpool will be among the clubs that benefit most. Andy Robertson reacted calmly to Manchester City's guilty verdict, though the former Liverpool left-back claimed that the players themselves bear no fault and that they have built a "remarkable team," a view unlikely to be shared by supporters. Manchester City's visits to Anfield have often instilled fear in supporters in recent years, even in the best of circumstances.

Even the best teams, at their loudest moments, find that stadium suffocating. For Manchester City's manager Enzo Maresca, his players, and away supporters, it will be an unforgettable experience, and they will get an early taste of the enormous anger fans will direct at them in future away matches and the atmosphere they will encounter when opposing fans visit the Etihad.

As the Premier League pursues the harshest possible punishment against Manchester City, the daily lives of everyone connected to the club will become deeply complicated.

Noel Gallagher, Manchester City fan and frontman of Oasis, revealed that he heard abuse on the streets just hours after The Athletic reported the verdict on Friday. Public anger at the club will provoke attacks ranging from crude banter to outright abuse. While workplace kitchen-table jokes can be annoying, match day atmospheres will inevitably be particularly heated.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that Manchester City planned to sign Crystal Palace's England defender Marc Guéhi on a deal worth up to £300,000 per week. This news alone reminded Manchester United fans that Premier League punishment still hangs over their neighboring rivals. The derby atmosphere at Old Trafford on January 17 was the most hostile in years.

Manchester City's direct rivals, as victims of the club's rule breaches, will undoubtedly voice strong protests. The weight of this verdict means that Manchester City will find no respite when visiting Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium, Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, or Leeds United's Elland Road.

Manchester City must submit their appeal by Friday. Once an appeal is lodged, a 12-week period begins during which five days of hearings will be held. After the hearings, an independent arbitration panel composed of three different members will issue a judgment within 30 days.

If Manchester City submits their appeal as scheduled on Friday, the entire process should conclude around Christmas. This means the earliest the entire case could be resolved is January 24.

This week, Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano stated at a European football executives conference that resolving this case will "take longer." Simultaneously, he assured club staff that Manchester City will exhaust every possible avenue and employ every method to overturn the verdict.

However, opposing supporters will not be patient. During this period, as various parties discuss potential punishments and await appeal results, Maresca and his players will face enormous pressure. Every time they step off the bus for an away match, they will encounter discontent and anger from across football.

Manchester City showed good form early this season. Despite the new manager still being in an adaptation phase and the defense giving opponents multiple scoring opportunities, the team started the Premier League season with five consecutive wins. Several weeks ago, they won the derby at Old Trafford with 10 men, and team morale was particularly high.

Soriano's video message to club staff this week also indicates that Manchester City's management has consistently reassured the coaching staff and players that legal matters will be handled appropriately by the club. Therefore, despite last week's bombshell verdict, the locker room will likely operate as normal, though some anxious conversations behind closed doors are easy to imagine.

The upcoming Liverpool match and the Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain's home fixture four days later were already considered key tests of Manchester City's strength during Maresca's early tenure. Now, the Anfield atmosphere will be even more heated. Of course, it's hard to imagine Paris supporters—owned by Qatar—being outraged about financial fair play accusations.

Beyond these difficult matches, Manchester City must accept a new reality: Until the appeal process concludes, and regardless of the actual appeal outcome, the team will continue facing public criticism.

From another perspective, this situation could foster a "siege mentality." After the Premier League first announced Manchester City's financial rule breaches in February 2023, the atmospheres at subsequent matches at the Etihad showed far greater unity than typical results that season would suggest.

The day before the charges were announced, Manchester City had just lost to Tottenham. At that time, manager Pep Guardiola's defiant comments and supporters' rebellious attitude in the face of this legal dispute genuinely united the club. Afterward, they achieved a treble in June that year.

Now Guardiola departed late last season, and his successor Maresca will find it difficult to recreate that unifying effect. Moreover, the possibility of a major points deduction before season's end still looms, and once that occurs, any subsequent Manchester City comeback would instantly become meaningless.

All away grounds will be filled with righteous condemnation, but loyal Manchester City supporters will stand most firmly behind the team, countering overwhelming criticism with their backing.

While Manchester City's management and legal team continue negotiating and fighting the Premier League and independent commission verdicts, the manager, players, and supporters will bear the full burden of this ongoing storm.

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