The drama in the match between Man City and Liverpool in the FA Cup

Man City entered the clash with Liverpool in the mindset of wanting to win right at home to continue their sublimation in the domestic arena, not long after they defeated Arsenal in the League Cup final. Currently, they are still racing with the "Gunners" in the Premier League and if they beat Liverpool, Man City's chances of meeting Arsenal again in the FA Cup final are very high.

Meanwhile, with Liverpool at this time, if they set a goal to win a title, they will see the FA Cup as the most feasible. In the Premier League, The Kop's goal is a Champions League ticket next season, not a championship race. Meanwhile, in the Champions League, although they have passed the round of 16, the opponent of the "Reds" in the quarter-finals is the defending champion PSG, the team that just mercilessly destroyed Chelsea.

This will be the 3rd time Man City and Liverpool have met this season, after 2 previous matches in the Premier League. In both of these times, The Citizens have won against opponents, so the confidence at Etihad on Saturday night will be huge.

One of the things both teams are concerned about is the strength of the defense after the FIFA Days. Remember in the national team gathering in November 2025, after it ended, Man City and Liverpool both played quite poorly. The Citizens lost to Newcastle United 1-2 and lost to Bayer Leverkusen 0-2. Meanwhile, Liverpool lost to Nottingham Forest 0-3 and lost to PSV 1-4.

This season, Liverpool's attack is not bad. They have only been silent in 4/31 Premier League matches played. The average number of goals scored by The Kop in this series is 2.97 goals/match. If only counting away matches, Liverpool has an average number of goals scored of 3 goals/match. This will be an indicator for "Red Brigade" fans to be confident about a victory against their arch-rival.

The most concerned factor on the visiting team side will be midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. He had a "complete" FIFA Days when he only participated in 2 friendly matches that were not very meaningful for the Hungarian national team. The goal of warming up has been achieved and Szobo will come to Etihad with the highest spirit and readiness.

In this season's FA Cup, Szobo has played 3 times and scored 2 goals. In the Premier League, he has scored 5 goals since the beginning of the season. On average, the 25-year-old star launches 2 shots per game, not too many in number but quite good quality. Especially this season, the Hungarian midfielder has scored 4 goals from free kicks in the Premier League. Therefore, Man City players understand that they should not foul near the penalty area to avoid becoming the next victim of Szoboszlai.

Meanwhile, on Man City's side, the spirit of the whole team is at a fairly good level as they will return to the domestic cup playground with the nearest baggage being the League Cup 2026 title. Witnessing Pep Guardiola's enthusiastic celebration, fans of the Etihad Stadium can be absolutely assured of the determination of the captain and his students. In a season that has been eliminated from the Champions League and is losing ground in the Premier League, winning 2 domestic cup titles will be an unbeatable consolation for a team that likes to conquer like Man City.

Sharing at the pre-match press conference, Pep admitted that Man City has recently focused more on set pieces. This is quite strange compared to the Spanish strategist's previous meticulous tactical handling of the ball. Pep revealed that there will be a surprise for Liverpool at the Etihad this weekend and of course he did not specify what it is.