As football emerges from the inaugural three-week fall international break, the Premier League charges against Man City hang like a black cloud over the horizon. Surely many fans around the UK, and the world, will be wondering to themselves: does this season even matter?
This early in a season, the possible outcomes should be abundant. Five games into last season, Tottenham were in third place with 3 wins and a draw, while Villa were in the relegation zone with 3 draws, 2 losses, and just 1 goal scored.
Villa went on to win 13 of their next 15 fixtures and finish in the Champions League places, while Spurs would go on to win only 7 more times in the entire season, escaping relegation with a win on the final day.
Given the shocking nature of City’s guilt, and the forcefulness in the Premier League’s conviction, however, I suspect that many fans wish the season had just five games to go, rather than only being five games in.
Asterisks on prior seasons – whether titles are stripped, reallocated, or neither – will continue to be fodder for conversation. But fans are not rewatching matches from a decade back; we’re looking forward to the upcoming ones. The current sentiment around the League is so gloomy that many may question the point of the 2026-27 Premier League season.
What happens if City accrue enough points to ‘win’ the league, while they find a way to drag out the sanctions process in court? Will Sheikh Mansour show up to hand out a replica of the trophy on the final day of the season, whilst the ‘official’ winners medals are being put around the necks of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, and the rest of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side?
Most fans will be deeply disturbed if City are not at the bottom of the table come matchday 38. In the event their conviction is upheld after appeal, it’s hard to imagine a points deduction that wouldn’t put them well out of reach of safety. If Everton received an 8 point deduction for a £36m breach, a commensurate deduction for an amount more than 25 times greater would put City well south of the relegation line.
Is that a guarantee? The prevailing narrative is yes, but for some reason, the bookmakers disagree. Bet365 gives City +162 odds on relegation, with the three newly promoted sides all given a higher likelihood. What do they know that the fans don’t?
Fans can now rightfully claim that they have been cheated for nearly two decades – and City players and fans will bear a high cost. What fortune, that City have to travel to Anfield for the first match out of the break. Give them hell, Liverpudlians. This weekend, everyone is a Red.
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