Merseyside Police insist a “comprehensive and appropriate” operation is in place for Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield.
City are reported to have contacted their opponents about the arrival of the team coach at Anfield after a social media post urged supporters to greet the teams with “pyros and pints”.
In their Champions League quarter-final in April 2018 City’s coach was substantially damaged by items thrown at it on its approach to the ground, although their visit last season passed off without incident.
Police have confirmed they are aware of one posting on social media but insist they have the resources to handle the occasion.
“As with any match, a comprehensive and appropriate policing operation has been put in place ahead of Sunday’s game and we have liaised with both clubs and their supporter groups,” said Superintendent Paul White.
“We are aware of one poster on social media regarding a bus welcome. The corresponding last fixture ran smoothly and we are working to ensure this game can be enjoyed safely by all as well as minimising any disruption to local residents and roads.
“As with all Premier League fixtures at Anfield, we will have officers on duty at the ground, both uniformed and plain clothed, supported by mobile CCTV, provided by Liverpool City Council, and specialist resources including the Dog Section, mounted police and the National Police Air Service.
“We will also have a city-centre policing plan in place throughout the day. This is standard procedure.
“We know that this will be a busy operation and we hope that fans attending the match will act as ambassadors for their clubs.
“As usual we would ask fans with tickets to arrive at the ground as early as possible.
“Fans without tickets should not attend at all; they will not be allowed entry into the stadium.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here