Liverpool players behind brutal taunt aimed at Man City as fresh details emerge
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and his teammates were reportedly responsible for putting together the Anfield stadium playlist that taunted Manchester City on Sunday (October 11).
City were greeted by boos and an array of banners displayed on the Kop as they took to the field for their first match since the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
Despite the grey cloud hanging over the club, City’s players put in a professional performance, with second-half strikes from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki extending the side’s six-game winning run at the start of the 2026/27 campaign.
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Liverpool taunt Man City stars with Anfield playlist
Van Dijk refused to comment directly on the independent commission’s verdict after the match and stated that he would do so once the appeal was resolved.
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“It’s still a little bit ongoing, so I don’t think it’s smart for me to comment on it right now,” Van Dijk said. “But when the [appeal] verdict comes out, I will definitely have my opinion and I will probably share it.”
But Van Dijk and his colleagues did reportedly have a hand in choosing the songs played on the PA system as City warmed up ahead of the match, according to talkSPORT.
Pre-match tracks included Whitney Houston’s ‘It’s Not Right’ and Calvin Harris’ ‘Blame’, before Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Little Lies’ was played after the match.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s fans certainly made their feelings clear, with chants of ‘cheat’ and banners emblazoned with the words ‘Look Back In Anger, Shamchester’ as a nod to findings that City had arranged “sham” contracts with commercial partners to inflate revenue figures and reduce losses.
Another banner read: “All of your stars are fading away”, while a third displayed the message: “A generation of supporters cheated”.
City’s supporters were in a buoyant mood and brought hundreds of inflatable bananas to the match, a reference to a tradition dating back to a game in 1987.
Liverpool return to action away at LASK on Wednesday (October 14) evening, with City hosting Paris Saint-Germain later that night.
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Steven Gerrard urges Premier League to issue severe Man City punishment
As previously mentioned, City and the rest of the Premier League are now awaiting the result of the club’s appeal, with the process expected to conclude within 12 weeks and the verdict to be communicated within the 30 days that follow.
Potential punishments include suspension from playing in the league, points deductions, the replaying of matches, expulsion from the league, being ordered to pay compensation to other clubs, automatic relegation and even the stripping of titles.
And ex-Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has told the Premier League to make City “suffer” by dishing out harsh sanctions.
Speaking on the Overlap Daily, he said: “In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected, if you like. I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back; that wouldn’t be right.
“But the club? They have to be stripped. There needs to be an example set historically, whether that’s a star throughout all the years of their achievements, because then it doesn’t matter whether the titles are stripped or not. As soon as that star is there, then everyone knows that [success] happened because of what we all know happened.
“And then there needs to be a punishment moving forward. I don’t know what the right one is. I don’t think it’s fair on the Championship if they go down, because they will be one of the three teams that come up, so that takes a slot away from the Championship. It’s not fair on the EFL or the teams playing against City week in, week out.
“I think it’s more about moving forward in the Premier League and punishing them over a period of time. A multi-year punishment, that would be my opinion. I’m not saying that’s the right opinion, but that’s just how I feel. I think it needs to be a transfer ban, a points [deduction] over a period of time, and make them suffer like they’ve made everyone suffer over the nine, 10 years that they’ve done it.
“They were strong with Everton and strong with Forest in their punishments for breaches. Good luck to the Premier League, but they have to be strong.”
City deny any wrongdoing. The club say they have a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists” to support their position.
Topics: Premier League, Virgil Van Dijk, Steven Gerrard, Football News
Luke Davies