FA Cup semi-finals preview: Manchester City and Liverpool set to do battle once again

Manchester City and Liverpool renew rivalries once more this weekend. Having both have booked their semi-final spots in the Champions League, they now meet at Wembley in the final four of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Chelsea and Crystal Palace also do battle in the FA Cup semi-finals for a place in the showpiece event.

We’ve previewed both games below.

Manchester City v Liverpool

Less than a week after their enthralling 2-2 draw in the Premier League, the top two sides in England square off once again, but this time in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Manchester City chasing a treble and Liverpool in with a chance of a historic quadruple.

Both sides were in Champions League action midweek, but Liverpool were able to rest several of their key players for their quarter-final second-leg meeting with Benfica at home, while City endured a gruelling, ill-tempered clash with Atletico Madrid in Spain, which may have left a few scratches.

The temptation may be to side with this fresher Liverpool side, but both teams to score looks appealing at 6/10, especially if both of their meetings in the league this season are anything to go by.

City are the 8/11 favourites to qualify for the final, with Liverpool priced at Evens. The draw within 90 minutes is 12/5 so do not be surprised to see these two sides need those extra 30 minutes and beyond to settle their differences.

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Chelsea v Crystal Palace

It has been a turbulent few weeks for Chelsea. They are now too far off the top two in the Premier League, so combined with their luckless Champions League exit at the quarter-final stage, their priority now switches to the FA Cup.

They face a Crystal Palace side enjoying an excellent first season under Patrick Vieira, and the Eagles have picked up some great results recently, namely a goalless draw with Manchester City and a couple of convincing wins over Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League.

Thomas Tuchel’s side then will not want to rest on their laurels here, with another final berth so close in their sights. Chelsea are favoured at 4/7 to win within 90 minutes and are 1/4 to qualify, while you can also find 13/2 for Hakim Ziyech to open the scoring as the Blues search for their ninth FA Cup success.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are available to win at 24/5 within in the first 90 minutes, and if they are able to hold out for the extra 30, they are 14/1 to win on penalties.

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