Manchester City and Liverpool renew their rivalry on Sunday with a very different backdrop to what has become the Premier League ’s most significant fixture in recent years.

Both clubs developed a penchant for hovering up trophies under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp during the last decade - you have to go back to 2017 for the last time another side won the Premier League title - and five of the last seven Champions League finals have featured one of City or Liverpool.

That record could extend this season, but it’s only possible if Liverpool make it to Munich or clinch a league triumph in Arne Slot ’s maiden campaign. City’s season, by its lofty heights, has been woeful, and the midweek Champions League exit underlined how far this side has dropped off.

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That it trails the leaders by 17 points is another indication, with the FA Cup City’s only chance of silverware this term. In contrast, Liverpool remains strong favorites to finish top of the pile in the Premier League and faces a Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United in three weeks time.

City’s vast decline gives an unprecedented dimension to Sunday’s game - since this became a headline bout, never has it felt like Liverpool was in a completely different stratosphere to the side from east Manchester. Even when it finished as runners-up behind Jurgen Klopp’s men, City still managed to amass 81 points in 2019/20, while December’s meeting came as the league watched on in disbelief at City’s nosedive.

There was still a feeling this could be a blip, that the Blues could force their way back into the title race with another obscene winning run after the turn of the year. The subsequent months have proved this is anything but a short-term snag, though.

It means that many will tune into Sunday’s game wondering if Liverpool can inflict more misery on City just four days after the Real Madrid mauling. How will its ill-equipped midfield cope with the Reds’ highly functional version?

But away from the on-field feud between the clubs, supporters found common ground this week. On Monday, it was announced that Liverpool has decided to freeze ticket prices for the 2025/26 season - welcome news in a period when fans continue to be ignored.

It came after consultation with the club’s supporters’ board, and there’s a hope that it will provide a domino effect for other top-flight teams to follow suit. The fallout and ire surrounding the surge in ticket prices has been a recurring topic among fans over the last 12 months, with Crystal Palace the only Premier League club who opted against cost hikes ahead of this season.

Protests have become commonplace at the upper levels of English football, a trend that is growing as fans continue to be charged increasingly exorbitant fees. The movement has even seen supporters set aside traditional rivalries, helped in part to the Football Supporters’ Association’s #StopExploitingLoyalty campaign. That was the case when Liverpool and City fans came to protest before the match at Anfield in December, with Manchester United and Everton supporters following suit ahead of its game at Old Trafford on the same day.

Thankfully, for Liverpool fans, that message has been listened to, although supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly reiterated this week that its ‘fight for fairer ticketing, lower prices, and the preservation of football culture continues’.

As for City, their frustrations have been laid bare to the owners with an open letter earlier this month from fan group City Matters, claiming that loyal fans are being ‘priced out’. “By making it practically impossible to obtain a standard season ticket, ticketing policy decision makers at Manchester City are severing the generational link between fans and their club,” it said.

There has been no public response from the club since, prompting prominent fans group MCFC Fans Foodbank Support to organise another pre-match protest outside the Etihad on Sunday as part of the #StopExploitingLoyalty.

Writing on social media, the group said : “If Brentford and Liverpool can freeze and offer cheaper ticketing, why can't Man City? Join us on Sunday and repay the favour from when Scousers stood with us when we travelled to Anfield in December to hold the same banner, in solidarity with supporters across the country.”

Commendably, Spirit of Shankly has decided to join City fans once again despite Liverpool's recent announcement - it’s the sort of selfless response needed across the game if owners and club executives are going to take notice. Liverpool fan groups also warned that rising ticket prices are risking killing the Kop' in an open letter penned last month.

Those concerns were listened to, whether City’s will is another matter, although the announcement this week does add extra pressure and scrutiny on the subject across the Premier League.

Liverpool, finally, is leading the way on that front and it’s not just on the pitch where the Reds currently outstrip their old adversaries.