Manchester City Vs. Liverpool Preview

Manchester City and Liverpool meet for the second time in a week as the FA Cup semifinals get underway this weekend.

Theirs is the first of the two semis and the highlight of the weekend’s action, with Chelsea and Crystal Palace meeting on Sunday to decide the other finalist.

City and Liverpool played out a breathless 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, in what was an exhibition of football at the top level.

The two differing but equally attacking styles of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp always make for an entertaining spectacle, and if the players have anything left in the tank after their midweek Champions League games, there will be more of the same in this domestic cup tie.

It might be a surprise to see similar intensity to that on show in the Premier League encounter between the two last week, simply because that game will have taken so much out of the players on each side.

But these two managers have qualify squads at their disposal, and could well rotate a few players in order to maintain that intensity.

“Semifinals of the FA Cup are always hard,” says Guardiola whose side have reached at least the semifinals in five of the last six seasons, winning the FA Cup as part of a domestic treble in 2019.

“I learned as a manager when you arrive in the latter stages of all competitions, you adapt to the schedule. If you want to complain for a [safety] net, you make a mistake.

“It is because we are fighting for the title. If we are not fighting for titles we would have long weeks.

“I would prefer to be having this argument [about the number of games] because we are fighting for the titles. I say it with a smile. I am not grumpy.

“It is not an ideal situation, we know that. Tomorrow [Saturday] we will be there to try and win the game.”

Liverpool remain a point behind City in the Premier League after last week’s draw, but they will be hoping to at least get one over on their rivals in the cups this season, having already won the League Cup.

They will also believe they can play much better than they did at the Etihad last week, when they weren’t quite clicking in some areas of their game.

“I think City was really strong last week, and we were not at our best,” said Klopp.

“I would like to see a game where we are at our best as well. It would be interesting.

“So let’s give it a try. Maybe that would be a surprise, all of a sudden we are good.”

Team News

Liverpool could be without Diogo Jota who suffered a knock in the Champions League game against Benfica on Wednesday.

Similarly for City, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker picked up injuries during their midweek clash against Atletico Madrid and could be doubts for the trip to Wembley.

Both managers have decisions to make around how much they rotate their squad.

American goalkeeper Zack Steffen started in the quarterfinal win against Southampton, though it remains to be seen whether he is trusted over Ederson for such a big game.

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino made a case for a place in the lineup after missing the game against City in the league. The Brazilian scored twice against Benfica and will be hoping to start in the central forward role for Klopp’s side.

Man City predicted lineup

Steffen; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; Rodri, Bernardo, Gundogan; Grealish, Jesus, Sterling.

Liverpool predicted lineup

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson; Salah, Firmino, Mane.