Five talking points ahead of the FA Cup quarter-finals | OneFootball

Club football returns with the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend in one of the most fascinating final eights in recent memory.

Here are five talking points ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup action.

Will we see a new name on the trophy?

Is this the most open FA Cup campaign we’ve seen? Football’s oldest domestic trophy has been largely shared between five clubs in recent decades.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have won 26 of the last 29 editions of the FA Cup, with only underdogs Portsmouth (2008), Wigan Athletic (2013) and Leicester (2021) able to oust that quintet.

Just one of those sides remain and while Manchester City are favourites for success, their vulnerabilities this season make a triumph for Pep Guardiola’s no foregone conclusion.

Of the other seven sides, none have lifted the FA Cup in the last 66 years. Four of those have never won the FA Cup ever, or any major trophy for that matter. Should it not be Manchester City’s season, it would be another welcome injection of freshness into English football, after Newcastle’s drought-breaking League Cup win earlier this month.

Manchester City seek to salvage season

Manchester City’s demise has been stark this season. The four-in-a-row Premier League champions have been an unstoppable force in recent seasons but have proven to be mortal during the current campaign. The Citizens are 22 points adrift of leaders Liverpool in the league and exited the Champions League meekly to Real Madrid in the play-off round.

The FA Cup offers a last chance to salvage their season, as Pep Guardiola’s side look to reach a third consecutive final. Bournemouth are the opposition this weekend, a side whose league form has stuttered of late. However, the Cherries were victorious in the last meeting between the teams on the south coast in November.

Mateta returns in big boost for Crystal Palace

Jean-Phillipe Mateta is free to return for Crystal Palace this weekend in a huge boost for the Eagles.

The Frenchman has not featured since sustaining a head injury that required 25 stitches in the previous round against Millwall. Victim of a dangerously high challenge from Liam Roberts, Mateta was taken to hospital for treatment and has not played since.

He’s returned to training, however, and will wear a protective mask when Palace take on Fulham in the quarter-finals tomorrow lunchtime. Having scored eight goals in his previous nine Premier League appearances pre-injury, it’s a timely boost for Oliver Glasner to have the forward back in the squad.

Will Forest cope without Wood?

The international break can often be the bearer of bad news and it’s proved to be the case for Nottingham Forest.

Chris Wood celebrated helping New Zealand book their place at the 2026 World Cup, but picked up an issue that rules him out this weekend. The 33-year-old has been a talismanic figure for Nuno Espirito Santo, with 18 league goals in a career-best campaign from the Kiwi.

Taiwo Awoniyi is the likely deputy but has barely featured this season, starting just six times across all competitions. The Nigerian has big shoes to fill.

Preston out to upset the odds

Preston are the last remaining Football League side in this season’s competition.

The Lilywhites were the first team in history to win a top-flight and FA Cup double in 1888/89, but it’s been a long time since Preston mixed it with England’s elite. The last of their two FA Cup wins came pre-World War two in 1938, while it’s been 64 years since North End were last a top division team.

Paul Heckingbottom’s side are 14th in the Championship and will start as rank underdogs this weekend, ahead of Aston Villa’s visit to Deepdale. Preston are bidding to become the first second-tier side to reach the FA Cup final since Cardiff in 2008 and the first to lift the trophy since West Ham in 1980.

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