In what is without doubt the tie of the round, Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Manchester City bounced back from their back-to-back draws in the Premier League and their Champions League exit by defeating Arsenal in the League Cup final.
A second-half brace from Nico O’Reilly sealed Pep Guardiola’s fifth League Cup crown as Manchester City boss and ended Arsenal’s hopes of a quadruple.
After routine wins at home to lower-league opposition in the form of Exeter City and Salford City, the Cityzens came from a goal down to defeat Newcastle United at St James’ Park in the previous round.
Liverpool have also cruised their way to the quarter finals of the FA Cup, as home wins over Barnsley (4-1) and Brighton & Hove Albion (3-1) were followed by a 1-3 victory away at Wolves.
Like their hosts, Arne Slot’s men have struggled domestically in recent weeks, picking up a solitary point from their last three Premier League outings (W0-D1-L2), leaving them five points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
However, unlike City, Liverpool managed to overturn a one-goal deficit and qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League by winning 4-1 on aggregate against the reigning Turkish champions, Galatasaray, on an evening when two of my three selections landed.
How the bookies view it: City favourites
Manchester City have been installed as favourites to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, with bet365 pricing them at just 2/5 To Qualify, whilst the win inside 90 minutes is 3/4.
Liverpool are 7/4 to advance to the semi-finals, with the win inside regulation time 29/10.
Head to head: Three on the spin for City?
Manchester City did the double over Liverpool in the Premier League this season, as they followed up their 3-0 victory at the Etihad in November by securing a dramatic 1-2 victory at Anfield in February.
Players to watch: Bernardo to be booked again?
Manchester City’s hopes of turning their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid around were extinguished early on as Bernardo Silva was sent off after deliberately handballing on the line.
Whilst that was his first red card this season, the Portuguese international has been booked 13 times for Manchester City this campaign – including in both Premier League meetings with Liverpool – and is an appealing 10/3 at William Hill to be in the referee’s notebook on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups:
Manchester City will still be without the injured Josko Gvardiol, whilst John Stones and Ruben Dias are doubts.
Liverpool will still be missing Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Alisson and Alexander Isak through injury, whilst Mohamed Salah, Jeremie Frimpong and Federico Chiesa are doubts.
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike
Anything else catch the eye?
The last meeting between these two clubs at Anfield in February ended chaotically, with Manchester City scoring twice late on to turn the game around, before Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off deep into stoppage time.
The Hungarian captain has also been booked in four of his last seven appearances for the Reds in all competitions, and is an appealing 17/4 at William Hill to be shown a card here.
What’s more, Szoboszlai has been carded in both Premier League meetings with Manchester City this season, which makes this selection even more appealing.
GambleAware