Manchester City vs Liverpool: Giants clash in FA Cup quarter finals

Premier League heavyweights Manchester City and Liverpool lock horns at the Etihad Stadium this lunchtime in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

City booked their place in the last eight of the competition after beating Newcastle United 3-1 at St James’ Park last month. Liverpool on the other hand also recorded a 3-1 victory in the previous round, beating Wolves at Molineux Stadium.

The Cityzens picked up with first piece of silverware of the 2025/26 season after beating Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final before the international break. Pep Guardiola’s men will look to keep their treble dreams alive with a win over Liverpool today.

It’s been a disappointing title defence for the Reds as they languish way down in fifth place in the Premier League table. Arne Slot will want to end the season with something to show for it and an FA Cup would be a solid return for the Dutchman in his second season in charge at Anfield.  Liverpool fans would have hoped for more at the start of the season but they’ll still be checking the live scores to see if their team can come away victorious from Manchester today.

Trafford starts

Guardiola has named a strong side but he’s gone with his No.2 goalkeeper for this FA Cup clash as James Trafford starts in goal. Matheus Nunes keeps his place at right-back while Abdukodir Khusanov starts alongside Marc Guehi in the middle of the back four. Nico O’Reilly starts at left-back so Nathan Ake has to make-do with a place on the bench.

Rodri and Bernardo Silva line-up in midfield for City with Ryan Cherki picked in the attacking midfield role. Therefore, Mateo Kovacic and Tijani Reijnders are named among the substitutes. Antoine Semenyo will be looking to continue his excellent start to life at City following his January move as he keeps his place in attack.

Erling Haaland is the obvious dangerman as he leads the line up front with Jermey Doku offering support. Savinho, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush are attacking options from the bench for City.

Liverpool start with Giorgi Mamardashvili in goal as Alisson Becker is facing a spell on the sidelines. Joe Gomez starts at right-back while Ibrahima Konate partners Virgil van Dijk in the middle of defence. Milos Kerkez is preferred to Andrew Robertson at left-back once again.

Ryan Gravenberch anchors the midfield with Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai also getting starts. That means Alexis Mac Allister is named on the bench this afternoon.

Mohamed Salah starts on the right flank for Liverpool while Florian Wirtz supports Hugo Ekitike in attack. Cody Gakpo has to settle for a place among the substitutes.

Here are the confirmed line-ups for the game:

Man City

Trafford, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Bernardo, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland

Subs: Donnarumma, Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Foden

Liverpool

Mamardashvili; Gomez, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Jones, Ekitike, Salah

Subs: Woodman, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Gakpo, Robertson, Frimpong, Nyoni, Morrison, Ngumoha

How to watch

The game is being shown live in the UK on Prime Video, TNT Sports and HBO Max. Subscribers can tune in and watch all the action. For those fans unable to watch the game live, they can keep up-to-date with the football live scores to see what’s happening at the Etihad Stadium.