Manchester City vs Liverpool (FA Cup Quarter-Final): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City return to action on Saturday after the international break where a mouth-watering FA Cup quarter-final clash against Liverpool awaits. 

The Blues won the Carabao Cup in their last match just under a fortnight ago courtesy of a 0-2 win over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium, and a second-half brace of headers from 21-year-old Nico O’Reilly wounding the Gunners and extend an almost six-year major trophy drought.

O’Reilly opened his account on the hour mark, reacting quickest after Rayan Cherki’s cross flashed across the face of goal and was spilled by Arsenal’s Kepa Arrizabalaga, leaving him with a simple header into an empty net, sending the City fans behind the goal into bedlam.  

His second came just four minutes later, meeting Matheus Nunes’ cross unmarked in the penalty area and placing his header into the top corner, leaving Arrizabalaga with no chance once again. 

It was the first time in the history of the League Cup that the top two placed teams in English football have faced each other in the final of the competition, while the win meant City won their first Carabao Cup title since 2021 and the first major trophy since the Premier League in 2024.

The Citizens still have two competitions to fight for this season in the FA Cup and the Premier League, and Arne Slot’s Liverpool stand in their way for a chance of another trip to Wembley in the final weeks of the campaign. 

The Reds are hunting for a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season, as the Premier League champions currently sit in 5th with Chelsea, Brentford and Everton all breathing down their neck.  

The Merseyside club were beaten 2-1 by Brighton & Hove Albion on the south coast in their last outing, and will certainly be looking to rectify that defeat with a win against Manchester City – Mohamed Salah’s last trip to the Etihad Stadium as a Liverpool player.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this giant North-West FA Cup quarter-final tie! 

Match Details

Manchester City will face Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday 4th April at 12:45pm (BST) at the Etihad Stadium. 

Match Officials

The Football Association have confirmed Michael Oliver will be the match referee for Manchester City against Liverpool in the FA Cup Quarter-Final.

Check out the full team of referees for the match here!

Team News

Manchester City were dealt a fresh injury concern over the international break after John Stones withdrew from the England squad with a calf problem. There is no time frame set on his return, but England manager Thomas Tuchel described the issue as “minor”. 

Josko Gvardiol remains sidelined after a leg bone fracture in January, whilst Ruben Dias is a doubt following a hamstring injury that forced him out of contention for the Carabao Cup final and Portugal’s friendlies with Mexico and the USA.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have had full-back and former Manchester City Academy player Jeremie Frimpong placed on a growing injury list, after he suffered a blow in the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Tuesday night. 

Goalkeeper Alisson and winger Federico Chiesa are both doubts for the trip, while Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, and Wataru Endo are all ruled out. The former pairing are sidelined with long-term knee injuries, whilst Endo is due to return from a broken ankle in early May. 

Mohamed Salah could return from a muscle injury that kept him out of the 2–1 loss away to Brighton, in what could be the start of an emotional few weeks for the Egyptian as he closes in on his now-confirmed Liverpool exit.  

Alexander Isak could be named in Liverpool’s matchday squad for the first time since suffering a broken leg which has kept him out for almost over three months. 

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola is due to speak with the media on Friday 3 April at the City Football Academy from approximately 12:30 (UK).

Full coverage will be available on City Xtra’s social channels and cityxtra.co.uk.

Head to Head

The last meeting between the two sides was the dramatic 1-2 win for Manchester City at Anfield in the Premier League, as Erling Haaland’s stoppage time penalty took three valuable points away from Merseyside.  

Dominik Szoboszlai had put Liverpool ahead with a quarter of an hour to go after a stunning free-kick strike into the top corner, but Manchester City fought back to win at Anfield for just the second time in 23 years.  

The aforementioned Hungarian star received a straight red card in stoppage time for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in a confusing decision which saw Rayan Cherki’s goal into an empty net chalked off simultaneously. 

The last meeting at the Etihad Stadium was a 3-0 win for Manchester City thanks to a stellar performance by Jeremy Doku, as the Belgian ran Liverpool ragged and capped off his performance with a beautiful, curled effort into the far top corner.  

Manchester City’s league double over Liverpool was the first time they have completed the feat in the Premier League era, and the first time since 1937.  

The last FA Cup meeting between the two came in the semi-finals in 2022 where Liverpool won 3-2. They were 3-0 to the good at half time and survived a Manchester City fightback to go on to win the competition that year. 

Statistics

Manchester City have reached the FA Cup quarter finals for eight seasons in a row and will achieve the same feat for the semi-finals if they are to win on Saturday. 

Pep Guardiola has failed to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup on just one occasion out of nine, when Manchester City were eliminated in the fifth round of the competition by Wigan Athletic in 2018. 

Liverpool have won the FA Cup eight times, with the Blues winning it on seven occasions.  

Both teams have been FA Cup runners-up seven times. 

Liverpool have lost 10 matches in the Premier League this season for the first time since the 2015/16 season, with seven games still to play. 

They have lost five Premier League matches this season thanks to stoppage time goals, the most ever by a team in a single season.

How to Watch

Viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch via Prime Video, TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max. 

The match will be shown live in the United States via ESPN and fuboTV. 

A full list of global TV listings can be found here! 

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!