Man City v Liverpool Preview

On Saturday, Liverpool travel 35 miles up the M62 to face Manchester City in an FA Cup quarter-final, in what represents another chance for either team to save a disappointing season.

It's April, the clocks have sprung forward and City are playing Liverpool. In years past, that's usually been the recipe for a title showdown. But not this year. This season, both teams have struggled for consistency. It's been a story of one step forward, two steps back. While the champions find themselves way off the pace, fighting and clawing for that prestigious top five place, the Sky Blues did appear to be pushing Arsenal all the way until a recent drop off finds them nine points off with a game in hand.

Man City went into the international break picking up a piece of silverware, their first League Cup triumph since 2021. It guarantees one piece of success in an otherwise underwhelming season to date, and means if this is to be Pep Guardiola's last season, he will leave a winner.

Liverpool had two weeks to digest another poor result after a blunt display saw them lose 2-1 away at Brighton. This quarter-final now comes four days before their season-defining tie vs European champions PSG gets underway.

Man City Preview

City have a largely fit squad coming out of the international break, but they remain without three important defensive units in Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones, after the England centre-back picked up a fresh injury before the friendly with Uruguay.

City comfortably had their way with Liverpool when the two sides met in early November, cruising to an eventual 3-0 win. Jeremy Doku was the main threat that day and he simply dominated his matchup with Conor Bradley and the Liverpool defence. He is the City player who I believe has made the biggest improvement this season, alongside youngster Nico O'Reilly.

The return fixture in February saw a much closer affair, with both sides creating multiple chances that highlighted the calibre of goalkeeper in either goal. The match ended in typical fashion for Liverpool, losing a game late on after a good performance throughout.

With Haaland continuing to struggle, I believe Doku and others such as Omar Marmoush, who may be given a start here in the Cup, have enough to really damage this unpredictable Liverpool defence.

Pep Guardiola was experimenting with leaving the creative Rayan Cherki out of the side for the bigger games of the season, with the Frenchman not starting in recent games away at Liverpool, Newcastle and Real Madrid. However, the Man City coach has brought him back in for the two recent games vs Real Madrid and Arsenal. It is no coincidence that Man City largely dominated those two games, even despite being down to ten men for a large majority of the Madrid second leg.

Cherki is a player who can particularly hurt this Liverpool team, as evidenced in his cameo off the bench at Anfield two months ago. His ability to drag a lacklustre Liverpool midfield out of position and expose the holes we have seen in their defence, particularly in the fullback areas, could be a major threat for City in this one.

Liverpool Preview

Liverpool come into this one after another set of inconsistent results, and performances. A dazzling display at home to Galatasaray, perhaps their best and most fluent of the season, catapulted them into the Champions League quarter-finals and a rematch with PSG. Three days later and the curse of the early kick-off, they produced a weak display away at The Amex vs Brighton, damaging further their hopes of a top five finish and Champions League football next season.

It is the story of Liverpool's season. One week you're reminded why they're champions of England, the next you wonder if this is even the same team. Now, a huge hurdle lies ahead in their quest to add silverware to what will inevitably be an underwhelming season, bar a Champions League triumph. I would argue even winning this FA Cup may not be enough to satisfy most Liverpool fans this season.

Other than the long-term absentees of Alexander Isak, Stefan Bajcetic, Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Conor Bradley, Liverpool may also be without Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker for this one.

Both suffered injuries prior to this international break and had to withdraw from their respective international squads. It could have been likely that Georgian Giorgi Mamardashvili would have been set to start regardless, but missing Mo Salah, who was outstanding in the second leg vs Galatasaray, will hurt Liverpool in a game of this magnitude. Hugo Ekitike came off early in the defeat to Brighton but has featured and scored for France since, so he should be good to go on Saturday. Federico Chiesa withdrew from the Italy squad due to fitness issues but did play a part off the bench vs Brighton.

Despite the up and down season, Liverpool have put in some impressive performances away from home to get a result in a big game. Solid performances away at Inter and Arsenal showed they still have it in them to control a game in a tough environment and come away with a result.

They'll need a performance like that on Saturday. I don't believe this Liverpool team has what's required to go toe to toe with Man City away from home. Particularly if Dominik Szoboszlai is required to move to right-back, the energy lost in midfield against such a ball dominant team such as City could prove costly. Alternatively, if it is Jeremie Frimpong or Curtis Jones put there, Liverpool may not be able to handle the directness and quality of Jeremy Doku or the other City forwards.

But it is a cup game, and the goal is less about the performance and more about the result. If Liverpool can tap in to their game management, shut-up-shop style, they do have the quality to get a goal.

There seems to be a lot of toxicity around Liverpool at the moment. With a potentially daunting tie against PSG to come, the FA Cup could prove to be Liverpool's final shot at trophy success this season.

Prediction

Man City and Liverpool are far from the team's they were a short while ago, but both still possess great quality and that was evident in the level of game we saw at Anfield in February. Between the two, City remain the better side and at home, it's unlikely Liverpool will have the midfield energy to keep up with City's ball dominance. In the final third, City have the quality to put multiple goals past a shorthanded Liverpool backline. I believe Doku and Cherki, if they start, will prove pivotal.

Prediction: Man City 3-1 Liverpool