Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield, with the result accompanied by a finding that the club had breached an additional Premier League regulation. The win was City's sixth consecutive and kept their unbeaten record intact through the opening stretch of the season.

Goals from Haaland in the 65th minute, Doku in the 68th, and Cherki in the 78th moved City to three points ahead of Arsenal in the standings. The trio of goals came after Liverpool's Gravenberch had collected two yellow cards.

Separately, an independent panel determined that City had breached financial regulations across nine seasons, with revenue figures submitted during that period found to be inflated by £900 million above what the panel assessed as accurate. The club has lodged an appeal, maintaining that the evidence at its disposal establishes its innocence.

Questions about the matter were put to City manager Maresca ahead of the match. Following the win at Anfield, Maresca did not give an interview to a radio broadcaster. One broadcaster reported that its lead football correspondent sought access to Maresca for an interview, though the club withheld that permission from radio outlets. The correspondent had already conducted an interview with Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola but was not granted access to the opposing manager. Following the post-match press conference, where Maresca fielded questions from assembled journalists, he also sat down with a broadcast outlet for a separate interview.

No explanation was provided by the club for Maresca's unavailability to the radio broadcaster. The withholding of that access constituted a further breach of league rules.

Rule K.207 of the Premier League's 2026/27 handbook sets out that every club involved in a league fixture is required to allow any radio broadcaster holding transmission rights to conduct post-match interviews with at least one player who featured prominently and with the manager. What penalty, if any, the league may impose on City for keeping Maresca away from those radio obligations has not been stated. Where a violation occurs only once, the board's typical response is to impose an administrative fine directly.

Declining to speak with radio broadcasters after matches has precedent in football management, with Sir Alex Ferguson accumulating numerous fines over the course of his time at Manchester United.

A timeline of key developments shows that in September 2026, a news channel reported Manchester City had been found liable on 114 of the 115 Premier League financial charges brought against them, a verdict the Premier League's independent commission subsequently confirmed. Ferran Soriano addressed staff by characterising the ruling as the product of a Premier League "conspiracy theory." In October 2026, City lodged a formal appeal, contending the commission's findings were unreliable and materially flawed. Also in October, it came to light that Khaldoon Al Mubarak had held a meeting with a UK minister in the weeks preceding the verdict.