STAR PREVIEW Sat: Manchester City v Liverpool

Manchester City and Liverpool could divide the footballing world between them this season and one of the pair will keep treble – or quadruple – dreams alive as they meet in the first FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. The pair could decide the fate of all four trophies open to England’s best football clubs; Liverpool have already won the EFL Cup, both City and Liverpool are favourites to reach the Champions League final, and the pair are separated by just a point in the Premier League table with Chelsea 11 points behind.

They also played out an absolutely thrilling 2-2 draw at the Etihad in the Premier League last Sunday, when City had the better of the game, dominating the first half and the closing 20 minutes, only to be denied by a mixture of factors including some last ditch defending, an offside goal for Raheem Sterling, and a late miss from Riyad Mahrez.

We can expect more of the same this weekend – meetings between the pair have always been high intensity affairs – but Liverpool could be in the better physical shape of the two sides.

Jurgen Klopp was able to make seven changes for the second leg against Benfica and still progress, albeit with a helter-skelter ending, whilst a bruising encounter with Atletico Madrid may have robbed Pep Guardiola of both Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker, both of whom would be huge losses.

However, City have huge depth waiting to replace their pair if both miss the game (neither trained today) with the options of Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Joao Cancelo as potential Walker replacements whilst Bernardo Silva could fill in for De Bruyne in midfield, with Jack Grealish another potential starter.

Manchester City v Liverpool
Wembley, London
FA Cup Semi-Final
15:30 BBC One HD / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport Website

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (max 10 matches)
APR 2022 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool
OCT 2021 PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City
FEB 2021 PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool 1-4 Manchester City
NOV 2020 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
JUL 2020 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool
NOV 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City
AUG 2019 COMMUNITY SHIELD Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City
JAN 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool
OCT 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City
APR 2018 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool fans and backers could feel energised by the thought of taking on a changed City team on neutral ground after their 2-2 draw last weekend away from home, particularly as they have a fully fit squad, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson all nailed-on to return to the fold.

There’s precious little between these two sides, with three of the last five encounters ending in draws, and that could be the best bet here with 23/10 looking to be a fair price about this game going to extra time. Finding a winner of the tie is a very difficult task, but City’s huge squad depth could make the difference in extra time and 9/1 about them reaching the final after a draw will look very big if neither side can be separated.

WILLIAM KEDJANYI

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RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Draw 1 pt at 12/5 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Manchester City to Qualify in Extra Time 1 pt at 9/1 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (APRIL 2022): LOSS -6.57 points
(Excluding ante-post recommendations CLICK HERE)

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