SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026
There has never been a regular-season Premier League game quite like the one kicking off at Anfield this morning. Manchester City arrive at 8:30 AM PDT unbeaten, untied, perfect through five — and playing as a convicted club. Two weeks ago the independent commission found City guilty of 114 of 115 financial charges covering 2009 to 2018, the era in which they won three of their league titles. The club lodged its appeal on the evening of Oct. 1 and said the verdict was “unsafe” and that a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” backs its innocence, TeamTalk reported. The appeal goes before a three-person commission, expected to run no more than 12 weeks, with a ruling within 30 days after that. Until then, every City game is played under the strangest cloud in English football history — and this one is at Anfield, against the unbeaten team best placed to take their crown. It's the story of the day in world football, but it's not the only one: further down, Glasner's miserable homecoming at Selhurst Park, Everton's unbeaten run, and a record night in Nashville that deserves far more attention than it'll get.
Anfield hosts the Verdict Era's first test
The details of the verdict are worth keeping straight, because the noise around it is already enormous. The Premier League's statement said City used “sham” contracts to inflate revenue and cut costs, arranging disguised funding schemes worth more than £830 million with commercial partners. The commission also found the club guilty on nearly all the non-cooperation charges, writing in its verdict that “a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence,” according to the Premier League's statement. If the guilty verdict survives appeal, the menu of sanctions runs from fines and points deductions all the way to expulsion, relegation, and the stripping of titles. And the rest of the league is not sitting quietly: BBC Sport reported on Oct. 6 that several clubs want both a retrospective punishment and a tariff-based compensation system for rivals who finished behind City in the tainted years.
The managers' room has been fascinating. Sunderland's Régis Le Bris said the authorities have to be “relentless” or the competition loses its value. Crystal Palace's Pierre Sage called it “a national problem.” David Moyes, now at Everton, couldn't help doing the math out loud: his club were docked six points in 2023 for a single breach of the financial rules City were found to have flouted more than a hundred times — “it looks terrible,” he said. And Ian Holloway, never one for the diplomatic answer, called City's owners “a disgrace” and said he'd strip everything and make them start again. Inside the club, the message is unity: Erling Haaland told Sky Sports this week that the squad has to “stick together… stay positive” and “enjoy the ride,” while head coach Enzo Maresca faced the media on Friday for the first time since the verdict. The Times expects a hostile reception for City at Anfield today. We'll have the full verdict on the game itself — score, fallout, table — in tomorrow's roundup.
The team news is in, and it's dramatic on both sides. Liverpool give a first Premier League start to Lewis Koumas, filling in for the injured Alexander Isak, with Cody Gakpo also out. City's XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias (captain), Guéhi, O'Reilly; Anderson, Fernández; Ndiaye, Cherki, Semenyo; Haaland. The subs: Rulli, Kovačić, Doku, Reis, Gvardiol, Bouaddi, Allan, Khusanov, Lewis. Phil Foden sits this one out suspended — sent off for the first time in his career — and there were late doubts over Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. A depleted Liverpool at home against a perfect City with everything swirling around them. If you only watch one game today, it's this one — 8:30 AM PDT on NBC.
Saturday: Chelsea run riot, Arsenal hold serve, United and Spurs share the mess
Before today's main event, Matchweek 6's Saturday slate delivered the goals. Chelsea 5-1 Bournemouth was the heaviest result of the round and the loudest statement — the Blues are up to fifth on 10 points and suddenly look like they belong in the top-four conversation. Arsenal's 2-1 comeback over Leeds, covered in yesterday's roundup, keeps the champions second on 15 points, behind City only on goal difference. The much-hyped “beautiful mess” at Old Trafford ended 1-1 between Manchester United and Tottenham — neither side able to land the knockout blow their seasons are begging for. Elsewhere: Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford, Ipswich 2-1 Fulham (the Tractor Boys up to ninth on nine points), and Sunderland 0-2 Brighton, which lifts the Seagulls to third on 13 points. Twenty goals across Saturday's six games. The league is fun right now.
Sunday's early games: Glasner's miserable homecoming, Everton's unbeaten run rolls on
The early window belonged to Selhurst Park, where Oliver Glasner's first return to Crystal Palace since leaving in the summer — after delivering the FA Cup in 2025 and the Conference League in 2026, the first major trophies in club history — turned miserable fast. His Nottingham Forest side actually started brilliantly: Dan Ndoye pounced on an error from Anan Khalaili and bent home a fine finish after just three minutes, and for 40 minutes it was one-way traffic. Liam Delap somehow blasted a close-range volley straight at Walter Benítez with the goal gaping, then nodded a back-post header wide. Football punishes that kind of waste. Five minutes before the break, Daichi Kamada prodded home completely against the run of play; then, after Matz Sels denied Tyrick Mitchell, Adam Wharton's corner was bundled in by Jefferson Lerma in first-half stoppage time. Yeremy Pino's low strike in the 59th minute sealed a 3-1 Palace win. The Eagles leapfrog Forest into 12th; Forest fall to 14th with one win from six. Glasner got a warm reception before kickoff and nothing after it.
At the MKM Stadium, Hull City and Everton shared four second-half goals in a 2-2 draw that probably felt fair to both. Scoreless at the break — Everton had one ruled out — Joe Geldhart finally broke through, racing clear to lift a tidy finish over Jordan Pickford. Five minutes later Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall leveled from Ainsley Maitland-Niles' cross. Thierno Barry's header, from a lovely Jack Grealish ball, put the Toffees ahead; Mohamed Belloumi leveled for Hull. Everton stay unbeaten — no small thing given everything around the club this summer — and Hull keep ticking over in the points column. Monday night closes the matchweek: Coventry vs Newcastle, 8 PM UK time.
MLS: Nashville make history as the playoff picture sharpens
Saturday night in Austin belonged to the best team in MLS, and it isn't particularly close. Nashville SC's 4-1 rout of Austin FC — four different scorers, a rookie goalkeeper standing tall, and a late salvo that broke the hosts' spirit — set the record for the best 28-game start in league history: 19 wins, 3 losses, 6 draws, 63 points. Reed Baker-Whiting headed home a Patrick Yazbek shot off the post in the 31st minute; Elias Saad swept in the rebound of a Cristian Espinoza shot in the 67th for what proved the winner, his first career MLS goal; Brandon Vázquez briefly made it interesting in the 76th; then 23-year-old Shak Mohammed danced through the Austin defense in the 88th and Hany Mukhtar capped it in stoppage time — his 14th of the season, his fourth in three games. Rookie Brian Schwake made five saves; he's allowed 22 goals in 27 starts. Austin's franchise-record eight-game unbeaten run is over — their first league defeat since Aug. 16.
The numbers are getting silly. Nashville are 13 clear atop the Supporters' Shield table with six games to play, and just 11 points off Inter Miami's all-time record of 74 from 2024. Saturday was the club's record 23rd win across all competitions in a single season, and a club-record 59th regular-season goal. B.J. Callaghan set an MLS record with 38 wins through 71 games coached. Nashville are unbeaten in 20 of their last 22 league games and 32 of 39 across all competitions. And remember: this is the club that lifted the U.S. Open Cup at Q2 Stadium last October — a trophy double is genuinely on. We went deep on the record chase here.
The rest of Saturday's 13-game slate: Chicago 2-1 NYCFC; Atlanta 1-3 Cincinnati; Charlotte 3-2 Dallas; Inter Miami 4-0 D.C. United; New England 0-3 Seattle; Red Bulls 4-1 San Diego; Orlando 3-2 Columbus; Philadelphia 2-1 RSL; Sporting KC 3-3 Portland; Minnesota 2-2 Houston; Colorado 1-1 San Jose. And at BMO Stadium, the Xavi Tamarit era at LAFC opened with frustration: a 1-1 draw against ten-man Vancouver. Tristan Blackmon was sent off in the 7th minute for denying Jacob Shaffelburg an obvious chance, yet the Whitecaps took the lead through Oliver Larraz in the 43rd — his first goal since 2024 — before Denis Bouanga equalized 40 seconds into the second half, heading home Sergi Palencia's cross for his 15th of the season and the 80th of his MLS career. A second Bouanga strike was chalked off for offside in the 54th, and Yohei Takaoka's saves preserved the point that clinched Vancouver's playoff berth. Tamarit said afterward: “Sometimes we think it's going to be easier against them, but sometimes it's like they get more together.” LAFC are sixth in the West on 42 points with one win in their last 11. They host Austin on Wednesday — Hello Kitty Night at BMO, because of course it is. Today's MLS: St. Louis vs. the Galaxy at 4 PM PDT.
Around Europe: derby day in Southampton
Southampton took the South Coast derby 1-0 over Portsmouth. In Scotland, Celtic won 2-0 at Motherwell and St Johnstone won 1-0 at Aberdeen. La Liga: Elche 0-0 Celta Vigo, with Real Sociedad-Deportivo, Betis-Osasuna and Racing-Valencia to come. Serie A: Lazio 3-1 Monza, Bologna 2-1 Lecce, Como 0-0 Roma, with Sassuolo-Milan and Cagliari-Juventus later. Bundesliga: Köln led Gladbach 2-1 live, Freiburg-Schalke to follow. Ligue 1: Nice 2-1 Strasbourg, with Rennes-Auxerre and Troyes-Marseille later. Eredivisie: Utrecht 3-1 Willem II, Cambuur 1-0 Zwolle, Telstar 2-2 ADO. Elsewhere: Gaziantep fell 0-3 to Çorum in Turkey, Standard Liège lost 0-1 to Charleroi in Belgium, and Young Boys won 2-0 at Grasshopper in Switzerland.
The calendar ahead
Champions League Matchday 2 lands Tuesday and Wednesday — the midweek slate that will tell us plenty about who's real in Europe. In MLS, it's a Wednesday doubleheader of consequence: Nashville host Sporting KC, and Austin visit LAFC. The Ballon d'Or ceremony is Oct. 26. And tomorrow's roundup leads with whatever happens at Anfield this morning — the single most loaded 90 minutes of the season so far.
