Premier League given brutal reality check ahead of 'meaningless' Liverpool vs Man City

We've had bombshells. We've had statements. We've had appeals. And we've got the football.

Manchester City will take to the pitch on Sunday for the first time since it was confirmed that the club had been found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules, 114 to be exact. And while money is no guarantee of winning football matches, it goes a long way.

That's why Liverpool fans, arguably the primary victims of City's era of dominance, will be so revved up when the teams emerge at Anfield. But what does the game actually mean in context? And has the season already changed as a result of the ruling?

We asked our team of writers for their verdicts.

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To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

This season is in danger of becoming a real farce where nothing on the pitch really matters. While the Manchester City case lingers on - and it is so far from being resolved - then the integrity and reputation of the Premier League could be irreparably damaged.

Can you imagine if City win the title in the same season they get found guilty of breaching Premier League spending rules? Well, get used to it because it could easily happen.

If Enzo Maresca can invoke a siege mentality in the City dressing room then it might just happen - and where would that leave us all? Yes, there is a time frame on appeal and City are insisting that will prove their innocence. But even if that fails, they can challenge further.

This challenge could take a lot longer than this season to resolve. That is why it is hard to believe that anything which happens on the pitch on Sunday really matters… How can it? Not when we're all in limbo.

Yes, it will be a crazy occasion at Anfield on Sunday. A freak show. Huge chants of "sham" and "cheats." But as for the actual football… it's pretty meaningless.

What will the score be? Give us your prediction in the comments section.

The bottom line is that Manchester City's footballers have nothing left to play for this season. If the club is not given a sanction that guarantees relegation, it will be a seismic shock.

You have to feel sorry for the five teams City have beaten in the Premier League this season. An element of professional pride might kick in at Anfield but motivation will be close to zero.

If you are in one of those Last Person Standing things, put Liverpool down. They are a knocking bet. And hopefully, that will mean the joy of watching their team hammer City becomes the dominant emotion at Anfield.

All this talk of toxicity is a little concerning. As a club under the current ownership, City deserve all the flak coming their way. But their players do not deserve to be abused. Most will be able to shrug it off but the younger ones could struggle.

I'm thinking of the likes of 19-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, if Enzo Maresca plays him. It's an idealistic wish but hopefully the younger City players will be spared the serious barbs.

There's lots of understandable anger flying around the Premier League, but we've seen enough rule-breaking without encouraging more. Are we supposed to force City to kick-off every game 2-0 down, or put a player in the stocks each time they score so opposition fans can pay extra to pelt Matheus Nunes with rotten fruit?

Football matches have to carry on as normal and, as frustrating as that may seem, the Premier League and many others will secretly love that even if nobody will admit it. Anger may not make the world go round but it does online algorithms and a strong City this season under Enzo Maresca are far more likely to inspire mass hate-watches than they are to see people turn off.

There will be untold fury at every decision seen to be in their favour and a desperation to see them knocked down the table with some heavy defeats along the way. The longer that doesn't happen, the unpopular truth is that it will only make the Premier League more compelling this season.

City actually winning the title would be another matter, and a worst-case scenario for Richard Masters if there have not been any sanctions imposed on the club by then - but until then it simply adds to the drama.

An optimistic view, factoring in the timescale of appeals processes, is that Manchester City's case might finally be resolved by the end of this season. Others, however, have suggested this may yet rumble on for years to come.

Because the situation is unprecedented, estimating an accurate timeline is impossible, even though many have tried since the Premier League's excoriating core decision last week. The longer we await a full and final decision, the more farcical the actual football becomes though. That much is clear.

City head to Anfield as league leaders under Enzo Maresca and it's undoubtedly a fresh team with a core group signed over the last two summers. But that new-look squad still won't wash away the stench of their owners' financial skullduggery, which you suspect will linger for years to come.

So while Liverpool fans will have their fun when City arrive in town, the pantomime element of it all cannot sustain the Premier League much longer than this weekend. Legal experts may see pound signs by prolonging this particular scandal but football becomes futile the further we are dragged into the mire over this shameful episode.

The only hope is that we are in the end-game now, for the sake of the entire sport. Until then, Premier League football remains in purgatory.

Beyond the existential contemplation of whether anything really matters in life, of course events at Anfield on Sunday will count for something. They'll actually count for a lot.

For a start, it'll be a first taste of the treatment Manchester City's players can expect from opposing fans, and an initial glimpse of how the squad are reacting to the news their previous and ongoing achievements will be tainted for the foreseeable future.

Liverpool, meanwhile, could do with a significant scalp as they continue to find their way under new head coach Andoni Iraola. They've been steady but nothing more under the Basque, which in fairness is a significant improvement on matters last season.

Might City end up being relegated regardless of the outcome at Anfield and all their results struck from the records this season? It's possible.

But to suggest anything on the pitch won't count on Sunday is dangerous. This weekend marks the beginning of a new Premier League era, one where heads can no longer be kept in the sand over the recriminations of wrongdoing. And if it doesn't matter right now, why should it matter ever again?