Paul Merson has predicted the 4 teams that can make up the FA Cup semi-finals ahead of this weekend’s quarter-final ties.
The FA Cup motion gets underway on Saturday afternoon with Liverpool travelling to Manchester City.
Having slipped to fifth within the Premier League, 21 points adrift of leaders Arsenal, Liverpool will hope to salvage a disappointing season in each the FA Cup and Champions League.
Arne Slot is under serious pressure at Anfield lower than 12 months since lifting the Premier League trophy but winning the FA Cup or an unlikely Champions League triumph would surely give the Dutchman more time to show things around.
Liverpool face holders PSG within the quarter-finals of the Champions League and their FA Cup clash won’t be much easier as they tackle Pep Guardiola’s Man City on the Etihad Stadium.
City were knocked out of Europe by Real Madrid but responded superbly by beating Premier League title rivals Arsenal 2-0 within the Carabao Cup final.
Later within the day Club World Cup winners Chelsea face League One strugglers Port Vale for a spot within the FA Cup semi-finals.
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Chelsea will expect to prove too strong for a Port Vale side sitting bottom of League One but struggled before the international break, losing 8-2 on aggregate to PSG and likewise suffering back-to-back defeats within the Premier League.
Premier League champions-elect Arsenal conclude Saturday’s FA Cup motion with a potentially tricky trip to St Mary’s to face Southampton.
The Saints seemed to be in a relegation battle earlier within the season but have thrived since Tonda Eckert took charge in November, climbing into the play-off places with seven games remaining.
They’ll have to provide an enormous upset to knock out Arsenal, nevertheless, given the Gunners are near winning their first Premier League title since 2004 and are favourites to win the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta might be keen to recover from the Carabao Cup final defeat before the international break and find some momentum ahead of crucial games within the Premier League and Champions League.
This weekend’s FA Cup motion concludes on Sunday afternoon when Premier League relegation-battlers West Ham and Leeds United meet on the London Stadium.
Leeds gave the impression to be climbing away from danger earlier within the season but six league games with out a win has seen them slip back to fifteenth.
West Ham, meanwhile, looked favourites to affix Wolves and Burnley in happening but a recent upturn in form has given the Hammers hope of survival.
While all 4 quarter-finals are intriguing, Man City’s clash with Liverpool is the standout fixture and Merson expects Guardiola’s side to return out on top.
Merson believes his former club Arsenal can even advance to the semi-finals and be joined by Chelsea and West Ham in an all-Premier League final-four.
‘That is such a tough game to predict,’ Merson said of Man City’s clash with Liverpool on Sportskeeda. ‘I used to be at Wembley and saw Manchester City beat Arsenal within the Carabao Cup final.
‘Arsenal were terrible in that game, they couldn’t get out after the primary quarter-hour. But I also don’t remember Kepa being forced to make any big saves at the identical time.
Paul Merson’s FA Cup quarter-final predictions
Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool
Chelsea 3-0 Port Vale
Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
West Ham 1-1 Leeds United; West Ham win on penalties
‘After I watch Liverpool, sometimes they’re good and the opposite times, they’re completely and utterly out of it. Just have a look at the second leg against Galatasaray.
‘Liverpool won that game quite comfortably after which looked poor within the loss to Brighton. Consistency is non-existent at Liverpool.
‘So it is going to come all the way down to what version of Liverpool will turn up on this game on the Etihad on Saturday. Liverpool have an enormous week or two coming up. In the event that they are usually not careful, their season could possibly be throughout!
‘Though Liverpool have their Champions League quarter-final against PSG coming up on Wednesday, I expect Arne Slot to field his best eleven here.
‘Let’s be honest, Liverpool have a greater probability of winning the FA Cup than the Champions League. So I’d say they need to go all on this weekend after which take it from there.
‘Mohamed Salah should return to the line-up for this game. I do know he hasn’t been at his best this season, but he’ll do something magical before he leaves Liverpool.
‘That performance is definitely across the corner! I’d go along with Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz to partner Salah in attack here.
‘Florian Wirtz struggled badly within the league game against City on the Etihad. But I got little doubt that he’ll turn into a superstar.
‘Just give him a 12 months, he just needs time to quiet down before he can replicate what he did with Leverkusen.
‘Manchester City didn’t appear like world-beaters in the course of the cup final win over Arsenal. Pep Guardiola is anticipated to persist with Jeremy Doku, who was sensible against Liverpool earlier this season.
‘It’s not a foregone conclusion that Manchester City will win this game. The battle within the wide areas between Doku and Jeremie Frimpong, and Nico O’Reilly up against Salah could possibly be where this game is won and lost!
‘This might go any way, but I’m backing Manchester City just because of how inconsistent Liverpool have been this season.’
The 2026 FA Cup final might be held at Wembley on May 16. Crystal Palace beat Man City 1-0 in last season’s final.
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