The numbers ahead of a huge FA Cup quarter-final tie between Man City and Liverpool

[p]Pep Guardiola's side have already won the Carabao Cup this season, and are 180 minutes away from another FA Cup final appearance (it would be their fourth in four years if they make it that far).[/p][p]They've also made it to the semi-finals in the last seven consecutive seasons, which is already a competition record.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/salford/W4AadhN3/"]City[/a] looking for 18th consecutive FA Cup win at home[/h2][p]Furthermore, and as if to evidence just how great a cup side City have been under Guardiola, they've won all of their last 31 FA Cup matches that weren't semi-finals or finals since the defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wigan/MgHlK2Na/"]Wigan[/a] in the fifth round during the 2017/18 campaign.[/p][p]If they were to win again on Saturday, the hosts would have made it 18 consecutive FA Cup victories at home, beating the record they currently share with Clapham Rovers (17 wins - December 1873 to February 1881).[/p][embed guid="113ffcba-709d-4bf5-9faf-950770aae128" url="https://x.com/ManCity/status/2039786403333087656" social-type="twitter" /][p]The last time the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Reds[/a] were in the final (2022), they won it, beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw (aet).[/p][p]Arne Slot may well be encouraged by the fact that Liverpool have won 17 of their last 19 FA Cup quarter-final matches, but one of the two losses was in that epic 4-3 game at Old Trafford against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Manchester United[/a] in 2024, their last appearance at this stage of the competition.[/p][h2]Liverpool haven't lost back-to-back quarter-finals since the sixties[/h2][p]They've also not lost back-to-back quarter-finals since the Bill Shankly era (1967/68 and 1969/70), however, they haven't won two away games against top-flight opposition in a single FA Cup campaign since beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portsmouth/zckREQFJ/"]Portsmouth[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/birmingham/SWk4muv7/"]Birmingham[/a] in the 2005/06 season ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wolves/j3Azpf5d/"]Wolves[/a] were beaten 3-1 in this season's Fifth Round).[/p][p]Though his side isn't in their best moment of the current campaign, they play a City side for the seventh time in an FA Cup tie, and in the last four of the previous six, it's the Reds who have progressed.  [/p][embed guid="20742569-7cf5-4159-a6cb-aef6007b16b2" url="https://x.com/EmiratesFACup/status/2039265207508172832" social-type="twitter" /][p]City are still looking to catch [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] at the summit of the English top-flight, and have beaten Liverpool home and away already this season. Were they to beat them again, it would be the first time since 1937 that the Reds would have lost three in a row to this opponent.[/p][p]It was the Gunners who were comprehensively beaten by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Cityzens[/a] in the Carabao Cup final, but Mikel Arteta's side remains a healthy nine points clear with seven games remaining (City have a game in hand and host Arsenal in just over a fortnight).[/p][h2]UCL to influence Slot's selection?[/h2][p]Liverpool do have the small matter of facing Champions League holders, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]Paris Saint-Germain[/a], four days after this cup game, too, and that might well affect Slot's selection on Saturday. Albeit, the Reds have a better chance of silverware this season in the FA Cup rather than the UCL, with respect.[/p][p]One player who surely has to start the game is [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mo Salah[/a]. The Egyptian King has 21 goal involvements already against City - 13G, 8A - and he's found the net in his last three FA Cup games.[/p][embed guid="0897c870-1768-4ebf-a139-8ab1d7c0721c" url="https://x.com/LFC/status/2039715799124918443" social-type="twitter" /][p]He could well be joined by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/isak-alexander/p41IV42c/"]Alexander Isak[/a], who faces a late fitness test to determine whether he'll play any part in the game after a few months out injured.[/p][p]Whoever leads the line for either side, goals are virtually guaranteed, as both teams have scored in all of their FA Cup fixtures so far this season. City have plundered 15 in their three matches ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/exeter/ve14a3l4/"]Exeter City[/a], Salford City and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a]), whilst Liverpool have scored 10 in the games against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barnsley/UNGEKMx6/"]Barnsley[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Brighton[/a] and Wolves.[/p][h2]Goals expected[/h2][p]There have been at least two goals scored in all of the last six H2H meetings, too.[/p][p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stones-john/SlLxn4xl/"]John Stones[/a] only rated as 25% to make this game, and both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gvardiol-josko/86K1f1fd/"]Josko Gvardiol[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dias-ruben/OpVD3nmU/"]Ruben Dias[/a] definitely out, Liverpool could target what's likely to be the same City centre-back pairing that they used in the Carabao Cup final: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ake-nathan/6LBvaQoh/"]Nathan Ake[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/khusanov-abdukodir/00ElbXx5/"]Abdukodir Khusanov[/a].[/p][p]Both teams have a collective 90% passing accuracy in the competition this season, the second-best of every team, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/szoboszlai-dominik/dERKtqoo/"]Dominik Szoboszlai[/a]'s 262 passes trumping any output from City's players.[/p][image alt="Man City v Liverpool - Recent H2H results" id="04f019ab-5784-4883-b40e-6a5d23d81193" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="08fcb858-34e6-4640-9105-70b6c9afbac9" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cherki-mathis/vm0eu2V3/"]Rayan Cherki[/a] (11 chances created, two assists) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/reijnders-tijani/f17EnPl3/"]Tijjani Reijnders[/a] (14 total shots, four on target) are certainly players for Liverpool to keep a close eye on, whilst Szoboszlai's eight chances created and three shots on target make him a dangerman for the visitors.[/p][p]Neither side has lost in the competition when scoring first this season, and both have scored more in the second halves of FA Cup games in 25/26 than before half-time, conceding just once each before the whistle is blown for the break.[/p][p]Another epic encounter awaits...[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/liverpool-lId4TMwf/manchester-city-Wtn9Stg0/?mid=rmHHwXNs"]Follow the match with Flashscore here.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Jason Pettigrove" id="af59955c-2dae-4639-9ba5-8a2bf358a38c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ff63d664-3bf1-4ef4-addf-0d797e4861da" original-width="1200" original-height="380" /]