Manchester City face "substantial hurdles" if they are to have any chance of winning their appeal after being found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules, a leading lawyer has told BBC Sport.

City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, and creating "sham contracts" to inflate sponsorship deals by £830m.

The club have said they are "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League" and they have "irrefutable evidence" the ruling "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe".

In their appeal, City will argue the payments were made by the United Arab Emirates government as a shareholder of the sponsors, while there are inconsistencies in the Commission's judgement.

Therefore, City say the sponsorship amounts were legitimate and not topped up by the owners.

James Severn, Member of the London Solicitor Litigation Association (LSLA) and Partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, told BBC Sport the appeal is "not simply an opportunity to invite a new panel" to get the verdict overturned.

"City will need to identify a material error of law, principle or fact, or serious procedural unfairness, which materially affected the Commission's decision," Severn said.

"The Appeal Board nevertheless has broad powers to allow or dismiss the appeal, vary the decision or make any other order it considers appropriate."

From a tactical formation and squad depth perspective, "Do Manchester City have any grounds to win their appeal?" carries substantial tournament implications for international seeding and domestic campaign momentum. Coaching staffs are heavily weighing high-pressing efficiency (PPDA), defensive transition pace, and fixture fatigue management.

Tactical analysts monitoring Champions League metrics emphasize that squad adaptability and set-piece execution will likely dictate outcomes in high-leverage knockout environments. Real-time match telemetry and tracking data continue to inform managerial decision-making.

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