Are Man City fans right about a Premier League 'Red Cartel' that's out to get them? - ESPN

Liverpool vs. Arsenal is one of the Premier League's greatest fixtures and involves two of its most successful clubs. But when the sides meet at Anfield on Sunday, the chat in the boardroom might just be as compelling as the action on the pitch between two members of the so-called «Red Cartel» battling to crush Manchester City.

The two teams are the most recent Premier League champions, with Arsenal dethroning Liverpool last season to claim their first title since 2004. Together with Manchester United, the third member of this alleged group trying to undermine City, the trio have won 54 league titles and finished runners-up another 44 times, making them the dominant forces in English football history.

Yet all of them would have won more titles during the past decade but for the might of City. And as the eight-time Premier League champions continue to fight to overturn last month's verdict from an independent panel that the club was guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period, anger is growing among City fans about the perceived part played by Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United — all of whom play in red home kits, giving the group its name — in their downfall.

City were found guilty of producing «sham contracts» and artificially inflating commercial revenue by over £830 million, with Premier League CEO Richard Masters saying the club «systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.» Is the «Red Cartel» accusation — whereby those big clubs have an allegiance designed to keep them in power and prevent other clubs from catching up — merely paranoia and an attempt to deflect blame, or do City and their fans have a justified sense of