One week after meeting in the Premier League, Manchester City and Liverpool will face off again this Saturday in the FA Cup.
Venue: Wembley Stadium (London)
Key Statistics
Manchester City are unbeaten in ten games (six wins and four draws).
The Cityzens have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten games.
They have won their last two meetings at Wembley against Liverpool (both penalties).
Liverpool have lost just once across their last 23 games (18 wins and four draws).
The Reds have won just one of their last eight visits to Wembley.
They have scored 2+ goals in four of the last five games played outside of Anfield while keeping clean sheets in three.
Head to head
Manchester City are unbeaten against Liverpool in their last five meetings (two wins and three draws).
Latest performances in all competitions
Manchester City: D-D-W-W-W
Liverpool: D-D-W-W-W
Manchester City
After their Champions League exertions in midweek against Atletico Madrid, Manchester City will turn their attention to the FA Cup, where they are looking to knock rivals, Liverpool, out in the semifinals.
Both sides booked their place in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, and now they clash once again in the semi-final of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium less than a week after they played out a pulsating 2-2 draw in last weekend’s Premier League encounter at the Etihad.
Twice City went ahead against Liverpool in last weekend’s top-of-the-table Premier League battle, and twice they were pegged back, but the destiny of the trophy is still in their own hands.
The Cityzens have enjoyed a relatively simple run to the FA Cup semi-finals, as Swindon Town, Fulham, Peterborough United and Southampton have all been no match for Guardiola’s men in this year’s competition. But they have bowed out in the semi-finals two seasons in a row, and the Catalan coach will be wary of the final-four curse striking again.
City have only claimed one FA Cup in Guardiola’s tenure so far in 2018-19, but they bring a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions to Wembley Stadium and so will fancy their chances of winning this tie.
Guardiola lost Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne to ankle injuries on the night against Atletico Madrid, with both men now classed as major doubts for the Wembley trip alongside Cole Palmer.
Possible Manchester City starting line-up
Ederson Moraes, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling.
Injured: Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp heavily rotated his team for the clash with Benfica and the outcome of that must have left a portion of Liverpool fans slightly fearful about the prospect of a Benfica comeback.
Roberto Firmino’s brace and Ibrahima Konate’s header cancelled out strikes from Goncalo Ramos, Roman Yaremchuk and red hot Darwin Nunez in a 3-3 thriller at Anfield, with two of the latter’s goals cancelled out for offside.
The Reds have never managed to reach the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, FA Cup and Champions League in one season, and as it stands, they are on the verge of winning a remarkable quadruple, even though they will rely on Man City dropping points to have a shot at the Premier League title.
The Anfield side also had it relatively easy on the road to the semi-finals. They have knocked Shrewsbury Town, Cardiff City, Norwich City and Nottingham Forest out of the tournament to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2014-15. They have made the final on eight of the last 10 occasions that they have reached the final four.
The draw with Benfica marked the seventh game without defeat in all competitions for the Reds – who have found the back of the net at least twice in six of those games – but they have now gone five games without a win versus Man City after the Etihad spectacular last Sunday. The last time both sides met at Wembley, Man City won. But given the injuries within Pep Guardiola’s squad, Liverpool will fancy their chance of getting a win in this game.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have a clean bill of health after several first-team players were handed rests against Benfica.
Possible Liverpool starting line-up
Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool