Liverpool v Manchester City has been one of the highlights of the Premier League calendar for the better part of a decade.
But even after Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have both left the Premier League, the fixture still carries plenty of spice, even more so on the back of the guilty verdict issued to Manchester City.
While City supporters were split in the aftermath with some sticking by the owners and their approach and insisting they'd wait until the appeal process had run its course, others were less forgiving, particularly concerned about what the future holds.
Of course, City fans of a certain vintage will recall all too well their time in the second and even third tier, the latter a becoming celebratory as they bounced back at the first time of asking.
Nevertheless, City fans travelling to Anfield are embracing the guilty verdict, wearing it almost as a badge of honour, with plenty making the trip down the M62 with inflatable bananas.
The bananas have been a symbol of City's support over the years, but where did the tradition come from? Believed to have started back in 1987 when City supporter Frank Newton took a large inflatable banana to Maine Road and popularised with forward Imre Varadi, who was nicknamed Imre Banana.
The craze caught on, with more and more City fans travelling to games with inflatable bananas.
In 2026, the inflatables represent a throwback to the period in the second tier, long before being bought out by Abu Dhabi money, perhaps in a show of defiance at their expected plight.
