Manchester City will abide by the decision of the Premier League if the clash with Liverpool gets changed to a neutral venue.
Blues boss Pep Guardiola said that the club will go along with whatever league officials decide over what should be a home game at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, July 2.
Manchester City Council will meet this Thursday night to decide whether it would be safe for the game to go ahead in Manchester.
The fear is that that, if both teams win their next games, Liverpool can clinch the Premier League crown in that game against their nearest rivals.
And with mass gatherings still banned under Covid-19 restrictions, there are concerns that large numbers of fans could make their way from Merseyside to stand outside the stadium.
It could be that Liverpool will already be champions by then – if they beat Crystal Palace tonight, and City fail to win at Chelsea tomorrow night, it will all be over in any case, and next week’s game is unlikely to be an issue.
Guardiola last week would not criticise the possibility of the second leg of the Champions League tie with Real Madrid also being switched to a neutral venue, in Portugal.
He simply said then that safety was the primary concern and City would abide by Uefa’s decision – and he took a similar tack this time.
When asked about the possibility of the switch to a neutral venue, he replied: “We will follow the Premier League instructions. All the protocols they’ve said, we’re going to do.”
