Liverpool’s games against Manchester City have defined the majority of the Premier League’s last decade.
In fact, it could even be argued the titanic title tussles that saw both sides surpass 90 points under Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola represent the peak of top-flight football in this country.
Yet it isn’t just because of the absence of the key ingredients of those battles - both managers, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah - that Sunday’s meeting between the pair won’t feel the same.
Rather, that is because it is almost impossible to say whether this latest clash has any meaning at all.
Manchester City are to blame for this strange situation, having recently been found guilty on all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League relating to financial misconduct and non-cooperation.
An appeal against those findings is yet to be heard, but the experts are gloomy on City’s prospects given the extent to which the Independent Commission eviscerated their arguments.
Should that fail, then thoughts will turn to a punishment, and many are already tripping over themselves to come up with inventive points deductions formulas they deem worthy of the crime.
In the end, you suspect the Premier League might end up viewing expulsion (along with a commitment from the EFL not to accept City) as the neatest, most effective option, along with the stripping of titles.
Either way, it will still be some time until any sanctions are handed down - if they are at all, of course - and so the issues around not knowing what we are watching in the meantime remain.
For example, if league leaders City go on to win the title this season but are subsequently expelled, will they get to keep it?
And should teams like Liverpool aggressively chase second place just in case there is potential for a reallocation?
This farcical situation is exactly why the Reds could justifiably argue that they have every right not to fulfil their fixture against City this Sunday.
However, it is understood that they are happy to quietly let the appeal process run, a fact that has led many to place responsibility for short-term ‘revenge’ firmly on the club’s supporters.
Clearly, this is the fanbase that has been most hurt by any City wrongdoing, having been pipped by them to the title on the final day of the season on three separate occasions across the last 12 years.
But it still does not feel right to ask these supporters to deliver an angry rebuke on behalf of the nation’s football fans while once again engaging in a contest that may ultimately prove illegitimate.
Sunday’s fixture may throw up captivating images to broadcast around the world, and the headlines we as journalists crave, but the entire endeavour is certain to be framed by matters off the pitch rather than on it.
And that is not the reason anybody falls in love with football as a child.
We do not want to spend our lives as fans of the sport reading about endless legal challenges, diplomatic pressure being placed upon the UK by a supposed ally, or unhelpful contributions from the prime minister that compromise due process.
And it is this wider distortion of the beautiful game that should perhaps be considered City’s biggest crime, meaning its architects are, in fact, more worthy of punishment than the club itself.
The Premier League and the Independent Football Regulator both have processes by which they assess owners’ and directors’ fitness against criteria such as integrity, financial soundness, and competence.
And it is hard to see how senior figures at City would meet the expected standards given the Independent Commission’s findings suggest they have acted in extreme bad faith while participating in a competition that cannot exist if one of its members does so.
In that context, the IFR’s powers to force a sale may ultimately prove relevant, but that does not help us now during a lengthy wait for potential sanctions to be handed down to a party that has yet to show a glimmer of remorse.
And that is why, for all the excitable attempts to bill Sunday as something of a grudge match, it is difficult to summon enthusiasm around a fixture that feels like just as much of a sham as the years that preceded it.
Justice delayed is justice denied. I agree completely with your points, David. In my humble opinion, the health and future of the game (and league) relies solely on the speed and weight of the sanction(s) to come.
The fact that there is little or no contrition by the City organization is confirmation of the contempt for the league, the fans and ultimately the game that has endured to this day. This is nothing short of ORGANIZED CRIME and it should be punished with unyielding terms for those who conceived, sustained, and concealed years of financial malfeasance.
I am less concerned about the silverware obtained by cheating than the philosophical playing field that was apparently never level.