Why Man City fans have brought inflatable bananas to Anfield for Liverpool clash

In the meantime, as expected, the Man City players received a hostile atmosphere at Anfield as they emerged from the tunnel prior to kick-off in the huge Premier League showdown.

However, as the likes of Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki made their way over to the travelling City fans, it was noticeable that there were many inflatable bananas among the crowd.

Man City fans and their inflatable bananas at Anfield

AFP/Getty

But why? Well, it has been reported that 1894 - the City fan group - have distributed upwards of 1,000 inflatable bananas among supporters traveling to Anfield.

According to the Mirror, the trend is said to have originated in August 1987, when Man City supporter Frank Newton brought a five-foot blow-up banana to Maine Road for a match against Plymouth Argyle.

"It started because of [former City forward] Imre Varadi," said Dante Friend of 1894.

"It was just one guy at the game who referred to him as "Imre Banana". A guy called Frank Newton took an inflatable banana to the next game, and then everyone started doing it."