Who: Manchester City vs Liverpool
Content: FA Cup Quarter Final
Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
When: Saturday, April 4th, 12:45pm (11:45pm GMT)
How to follow: All content will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sports from 8:45 a.m. Japan time, ahead of a live text commentary stream.
Liverpool face Manchester City in a daunting FA Cup quarter-final this weekend, but Mohamed Salah will be looking to end his incredible nine seasons at Anfield on a high.
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Man City produced perhaps their best performance of the season, overwhelming Arsenal and winning the League Cup final 2-0 before the international break.
City continue their quest to match their achievements as the only English team to win the domestic treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League in 2018/19.
Meanwhile, Liverpool face 10 days that will decide this season and perhaps Arne Slott’s future at Anfield.
Despite leading Liverpool to a record 20th English top-flight title in less than a year, Slott is under huge pressure to end a difficult second season with a trophy if he is to stay.
The FA Cup and Champions League are the Reds’ only remaining hope for glory as they sit fifth in the Premier League.
After visiting the Etihad Airways, Slott’s team will face European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals on April 8th and 14th.
A long farewell to Salah
The Egyptian player, who has scored 255 goals for the club, announced during his international break that he will leave the club at the end of this season.
“Hopefully he can make his legacy even more special in the coming weeks and months. We are still playing for something special, but he will always leave this club as a legend,” Slott said.
Salah, 33, was left out of Liverpool’s squad for four consecutive games at the end of 2025 after a rift appeared between Slott and the club.
Since returning from the African Cup of Nations, Salah has been a virtually constant presence in the line-up and appears to have won the Dutch manager’s round.
“That hunger never goes away,” Slott said of Salah. “That’s what I think is most special about him. There are a lot of good players in the world – he’s definitely one of them in the last 10 years – that hunger, that professionalism, that dedication to the club and the team that he shows every third day, and that desire to score, that desire to always play…
“We took him down three minutes before the end and he was like, ‘Yeah, we could have added another point.’
Slott hopes Liverpool can ‘become the team they once were’ against Galatasaray
In the penultimate game before the international break, Liverpool overturned a one-goal deficit in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Turkish giants Galatasaray at Anfield to win 4-1 on aggregate, 4-0.
However, after that impressive display, they lost 2-1 to Brighton in the league.
“I hope and expect that we can be the same team we had against Galatasaray,” he said in an interview on the club website.
“That’s what we should be too, because when City won the League Cup they showed what a good team they are, how many good players they have and what a good manager they have.”
“It’s a great match, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Guardiola suspended for match against Liverpool
City manager Josep Guardiola will miss Saturday’s match due to suspension after receiving his sixth booking of the season in the 3-1 win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup fifth round.
Guardiola was furious at Kieran Tripper’s fierce challenge on City winger Jeremy Doku. The City manager was booked for angrily protesting to the fourth official after the referee did not award a free kick.
Guardiola could miss his final game against Liverpool amid speculation over his future in Manchester.
Guardiola has one year left on his contract until the end of next season, but it is reported that he is considering leaving the club at the end of this term.
The Telegraph reported this week that Guardiola will wait until the end of the season to find out whether he will remain at City.
The Telegraph’s Jason Burt wrote: “City are said to have formally asked Guardiola if he intends to see through to the end of his contract, but that is not the case.” “Instead, Guardiola wants to analyze the situation City are in under him and how he feels in May before making a decision.”
Which other teams will advance to the quarterfinals?
After Saturday’s early kick-off between City and Liverpool, Chelsea will host third-tier Port Vale, the last team remaining in the competition, while Arsenal will visit second-tier Southampton.
West Ham host Leeds on Sunday as the relegation-threatened side look to secure a place in the last four as the battle for Premier League retention is put on hold.
direct confrontation
The two clubs have met 220 times, with Liverpool winning 110, City winning 62 and 58 drawings.
In their last encounter, Erling Haaland’s stoppage-time penalty gave Manchester City a dramatic 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League on February 8.
man city team news
Center back Josko Gvardiol remains sidelined with a fractured tibia, while fellow defenders Ruben Dias and John Stones will face late fitness tests as they struggle to recover from hamstring and calf injuries respectively.
If Dias is ruled unable to play, Abdukkodir Kusanov or Nathan Ake are likely to start in central defense alongside Marc Gehi, who missed the League Cup final due to ineligibility but is available again.
James Trafford will benefit from the FA Cup rotation and is expected to start in goal ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Expected starting lineup:
Trafford; Nunez, Kusanov, Guehi, Ait Nouri. Bernardo, Rodri, O’Reilly. Semenyo, Haaland, Cherki
liverpool team news
Salah missed the 2-1 defeat against Brighton due to a muscle injury, but Slott told Slot he should be fit enough to return this weekend.
Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo are all ruled out due to injury, while Alisson Becker is unlikely to start as he is still recovering from a muscular problem.
Jeremy Frimpong will be assessed after suffering a knock while on international duty with the Netherlands, and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai could be called up to stand in at right-back if Frimpong is unable to play.
Slott’s side are boosted by the return to training on Thursday of British record player Alexander Isak, who has been out with an ankle injury since December. However, the match against City will be too early for the Sweden international to take part.
Expected starting lineup:
Mamadashvili; Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkes. Mac Allister, Gravenbirch. Salah, Wartz, Gakpo. Equitique
