Was epic Man City-Liverpool rivalry all a sham after cheating scandal?

As one of the Premier League's foremost pundits, Jamie Carragher is no stranger to dividing public opinion. However, in April 2022, the former Liverpool defender made a particularly controversial claim when he suggested the rivalry between his old club and Manchester City was "the greatest, most intense and highest-quality" in English football history. Writing in The Telegraph, Carragher noted at the time that "the two best teams in England are the two best teams in the world, led by the two greatest coaches of their generation." Immediately he was dismissed by purists who insisted the plaudit belonged instead to the iconic Manchester United and Arsenal sides of the early 2000s as Sir Alex Ferguson faced off against Arsene Wenger. But given the unparalleled hegemony of Pep Guardiola's City and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool over much of the past decade, it can't be denied that Carragher's argument was compelling. Out of the 456 points available to each across the four Premier League seasons between 2018 and 2022, City and Liverpool amassed 358 and 357 points, respectively. There is arguably no better encapsulation of the fine margins that defined the clubs' peak years under Guardiola and Klopp than John Stones' goal-line clearance to deny Sadio Mané at the Etihad Stadium in January 2019. The defender's intervention -- which prevented the ball from crossing the line by just 11.7 millimeters -- proved the decisive moment in that season's title race, with City emerging as champions by a single point. Last year, the Premier League shared highlights from that blockbuster 2019 clash to its social media accounts with the caption: "The Greatest Match in Premier League history?" Should that sentiment still remain, though, after an independent commission found City guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules? City -- who vehemently refute the ruling and have lodged an appeal -- will argue that the magnificence of this era of dominance should not be retrospectively tainted by the events of the past few weeks. But with Liverpool set to host City at Anfield on Sunday, it is hard not to question whether one of the game's greatest rivalries was ultimately -- to borrow a term from the Premier League's scathing statement -- a sham. Klopp and Guardiola 'raised the standards' Klopp, who is now head coach of the Germany national team, certainly didn't take that viewpoint when he was quizzed on the matter at a news conference last week. "I have big respect for Pep Guardiola and City's style of football," he said. "They played fantastic football and were a top class opponent for us. If any sanctions are handed out, I have nothing to do with it; I'll wait and see. I'm far from preparing for a title or anything like that. I'm absolutely fine with what we've achieved in Liverpool." It is a markedly different stance to the one he took -- albeit in jest -- when he left Anfield in May 2024. "If you organize a bus parade, I'm in!" the German joked to an audience of Liverpool fans at the M&S Bank Arena when the subject of City's 115 charges was broached. Still, while the independent commission's verdict has unsurprisingly led to scrutiny of Guardiola's legacy, Klopp has never hid his admiration for his City counterpart, describing him in 2019 as "the best manager I've coached against." The respect between the pair has always been profound and mutual, with Guardiola acknowledging the role both he and Klopp have played in raising the bar in the Premier League. "Liverpool and ourselves, we help the rise of these standards for sure," the Catalan said at a news conference in 2022. "Definitely, when we were able to make 100 points [in 2017-18] and then after 98 [in 2018-19] and then they got 99 [in 2019-20], both teams made the other teams say: 'This is the level of the competition.'" For the players at the heart of those battles, the feeling is much the same. "I don't think when it comes to these things that players are ever to blame," Tottenham Hotspur defender Andy Robertson, who left Liverpool in the summer, said last week. Meanwhile, in a recent interview with The Athletic, Bernardo Silva -- who brought the curtain down on his nine-year City career at the end of last season -- was unequivocal in his assertion that Liverpool had been the club's "main rivals ... by far" during his time in Manchester. Of course, it is now pertinent to ask whether City would have been in the position to sign Silva in the first place (in a £43 million transfer from AS Monaco) if not for their alleged financial transgressions. If City had not -- as is claimed -- artificially inflated their income by a staggering amount of more than £900 million between the years of 2009 and 2018, would they have been in pole position to land a manager of Guardiola's caliber in 2016? It is a purely speculative exercise, but logic dictates the Premier League landscape would have looked decidedly different if City hadn't, as alleged, flouted its financial rules over a prolonged period. Across their careers in Germany and England, Klopp and Guardiola have faced each other 30 times, winning 12 and 11 of those meetings, respectively. When it comes to silverware, though, it is Guardiola who reigns supreme, having won 20 major honors during his time at City. Klopp won eight at Liverpool. While the latter's genius cannot purely be distilled into matches played and trophies won, it stands to reason Klopp would have had far more tangible success if not for the formidable dynasty City built under Guardiola. Pride and anger ahead of Anfield showdown That's why many Liverpool fans will not take as sympathetic a view of City's plight as their former manager. Should City's appeal prove unsuccessful, the potential gamut of sanctions they could face are wide-ranging and ominous. Still, there is a feeling in some quarters of the Liverpool fan base that no amount of retribution will compensate for the triumphs the Reds have been denied at City's hands in recent years. To this day, visiting supporters like to remind the Anfield crowd of Steven Gerrard's infamous slip against Chelsea in 2014, which ultimately cost Liverpool -- and one of the best players in club history -- a Premier League title. (Brendan Rodgers side missed out by just two points to Manuel Pellegrini's City.) Twice under Klopp, Liverpool fans endured 90 minutes of agony on the final day of the season, hoping for a City slip-up, only to come up short by a single point. They cannot now be blamed for questioning if it was all worth it; if there is any point in investing in events on the pitch when the playing field off it has purportedly been so uneven. Conversely, there is an argument that Liverpool would not have scaled such incredible heights if not for City challenging them every step of the way. Football at its core is about moments and, even in spite of the near misses, there were so many of those to treasure under Klopp. "We got to watch the greatest Liverpool team ever," Neil Atkinson of prominent fan collective The Anfield Wrap wrote on Sept. 30. "We had a great time, and I am bowled over by the fact that right now, years on, I am prouder than ever of Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool." It is a stirring summary, speaking to the maelstrom of emotions that will be at the center of Sunday's game. From a Liverpool perspective, there is anger and uncertainty, but also a renewed sense of pride at the club's achievements over the past decade. Head coach Andoni Iraola will need to harness those feelings as he seeks to dent Enzo Maresca's perfect Premier League record as City boss. In many ways, the match itself feels like a sideshow to affairs off the pitch, and it is impossible to know how significant the result will prove come the end of the season -- if, in fact, a resolution has been reached by then. The one certainty is that the eyes of the football world will be on Anfield this weekend. However this saga ends, one of the game's greatest rivalries is about to write a new chapter.