Paul Merson makes FA Cup quarter-final predictions including Man City vs Liverpool

Paul Merson has predicted the four teams that will make up the FA Cup semi-finals ahead of this weekend’s quarter-final ties.

The FA Cup action gets underway on Saturday afternoon with Liverpool travelling to Manchester City.

Having slipped to fifth in the Premier League, 21 points adrift of leaders Arsenal, Liverpool will hope to salvage a disappointing season in both the FA Cup and Champions League.

Arne Slot is under serious pressure at Anfield less 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 turn things around.

Liverpool face holders PSG in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and their FA Cup clash won’t be much easier as they take on Pep Guardiola’s Man City at the Etihad Stadium.

City were knocked out of Europe by Real Madrid but responded superbly by beating Premier League title rivals Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final.

Later in the day Club World Cup winners Chelsea face League One strugglers Port Vale for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

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 also suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.

Premier League champions-elect Arsenal conclude Saturday’s FA Cup action with a potentially tricky trip to St Mary’s to face Southampton.

The Saints looked to be in a relegation battle earlier in the season but have thrived since Tonda Eckert took charge in November, climbing into the play-off places with seven games remaining.

They will have to produce a huge upset to knock out Arsenal, however, given the Gunners are close to winning their first Premier League title since 2004 and are favourites to win the Champions League.

Mikel Arteta will be keen to get over the Carabao Cup final defeat before the international break and find some momentum ahead of crucial games in the Premier League and Champions League.

This weekend’s FA Cup action concludes on Sunday afternoon when Premier League relegation-battlers West Ham and Leeds United meet at the London Stadium.

Leeds appeared to be climbing away from danger earlier in the season but six league games without a win has seen them slip back to 15th.

West Ham, meanwhile, looked favourites to join Wolves and Burnley in going down but a recent upturn in form has given the Hammers hope of survival.

While all four quarter-finals are intriguing, Man City’s clash with Liverpool is the standout fixture and Merson expects Guardiola’s side to come out on top.

Merson believes his former club Arsenal will also advance to the semi-finals and be joined by Chelsea and West Ham in an all-Premier League final-four.

‘This is such a hard game to predict,’ Merson said of Man City’s clash with Liverpool on Sportskeeda. ‘I was at Wembley and saw Manchester City beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final.

‘Arsenal were terrible in that game, they couldn’t get out after the first 15 minutes. But I also don’t remember Kepa being forced to make any big saves at the same time.

‘When I watch Liverpool, sometimes they are good and the other times, they are completely and utterly out of it. Just look at the second leg against Galatasaray.

‘Liverpool won that game quite comfortably and then looked poor in the loss to Brighton. Consistency is non-existent at Liverpool.

‘So it will come down to what version of Liverpool will turn up in this game at the Etihad on Saturday. Liverpool have a big week or two coming up. If they are not careful, their season could be all over!

‘Even 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 better chance of winning the FA Cup than the Champions League. So I would say they should go all in this weekend and then take it from there.

‘Mohamed Salah should return to the line-up for this game. I know he hasn’t been at his best this season, but he will do something magical before he leaves Liverpool.

‘That performance is surely around the corner! I would go with Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz to partner Salah in attack here.

‘Florian Wirtz struggled badly in the league game against City at the Etihad. But I got no doubt that he will become a superstar.

‘Just give him a year, he just needs time to settle down before he can replicate what he did with Leverkusen.

‘Manchester City did not look like world-beaters during the cup final win over Arsenal. Pep Guardiola is expected to stick with Jeremy Doku, who was brilliant against Liverpool earlier this season.

‘It’s not a foregone conclusion that Manchester City will win this game. The battle in the wide areas between Doku and Jeremie Frimpong, and Nico O’Reilly up against Salah could be where this game is won and lost!

‘This could go any way, but I’m backing Manchester City simply because of how inconsistent Liverpool have been this season.’

The 2026 FA Cup final will be held at Wembley on May 16. Crystal Palace beat Man City 1-0 in last season’s final.

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