Trial of the century as Man City set to face 115 charges hearing

After being charged 115 times for alleged financial wrongdoing by the Premier League in February 2023, the eight-time Premier League winners are now facing a landmark hearing.

Likely to last a few months, the formal hearing with the Premier League will begin on Monday at an undisclosed location.

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Among the 115 charges, they are accused of failing to fully disclose the amount of money sent to one of their managers, failing to comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules over five years and failing to comply with the Premier League's investigation.

Their alleged offences took place over the nine years between 2009 and 2018, when the Citizens won three Premier League titles, including the famous 2013-14 title race with Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool team, who came second by two points.

Speaking in a press conference last season, ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was eager to find out the verdict, although he credited much of City's brilliance to Pep Guardiola.

Likewise, club legend Jamie Carragher said last season that he found it difficult to brandish City as the best team in the division while the investigation loomed over their heads.

How will this affect Liverpool?

The current punishments enshrined in the Premier League rules suggest we could see a points deduction or the threat of expulsion from the league if the champions of the past four seasons are given a guilty verdict.

As with other financial breaches from Nottingham Forest and Everton, the use of a points deduction seems to be a favoured method of punishment, but with such an extensive list of potential wrongdoings, anything is possible.

No date has been set for when a decision will be made, as a formal hearing has to take place, followed by the commission's deliberation over the evidence, before the prospect of numerous different appeals processes.

Despite being rumoured, retrospective action is not on the table, so Liverpool would not be awarded their 2013/14 title if City were found to have breached regulations during that time.

The club's lawyers may attempt different ways of receiving compensation, but as with any team that was even slightly impacted by any illegal activity from the Manchester club - if they are found guilty - there is an immense amount of complexity in how a team could respond.

Alongside this, whilst the years since 2018 are not part of the period of alleged wrongdoing, if City happen to be found guilty, then the platform they gave themselves across nine years will have impacted some of their success beyond 2018, including their title win in 2018-19, where Liverpool were edged out by a point.

Betting odds for City to be relegated have been slashed in recent months and the Premier League will have an outcome to the investigation before the end of the season.

But until then, everyone will just have to keep their eyes glued to the news for any information that may come from the hearing, as neither the Premier League nor City can influence the independent legal process.