Prediction and odds for the game: Manchester City (8/5) vs Liverpool (7/4)
We are backing the Liverpool win
When: Saturday 16 April 2022, Kick-off 15:30
Where: Wembley
On Saturday afternoon, England’s top two teams Manchester City and Liverpool go head-to-head at Wembley in what promises to be a fascinating FA Cup clash.
Manchester City
The Citizens are fresh from a bruising 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The draw saw Pep Guardiola’s team set up a semi-final meeting with Atletico’s arch-rivals Real Madrid, who edged past Chelsea in the last eight.
The draw means that the Citizens could still end the season by winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and the Champions League. Arguably Liverpool is their biggest obstacle in claiming all three trophies.
On the list of priority trophies for City, the FA Cup sits firmly behind the Champions League and the Premier League. However, it is still a competition the Citizens will want to win, especially against rivals Liverpool.
City had a smooth journey to the last four of the FA Cup, comfortably beating Swindon, Fulham, Peterborough, and Southampton. Pep Guardiola’s team have also been prolific in the FA Cup this season, scoring at least twice in every round.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp was able to rest most of his first-choice players for the Reds midweek 3-3 home draw with Benfica in the quarter-final of the Champions League. The draw saw the men from Merseyside progress to the semi-finals of Europe’s elite competition 3-1 on aggregate. They will now face Bayern Munich’s conqueror Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final.
Liverpool’s recent form has been good in general, although before the draw against Benfica they had drawn 2-2 with Saturday’s opponents in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium. The result failed to give any clarity on the potential destination of the English top-flight crown this season.
Liverpool could well end the season with four big trophies. Klopp’s team has already won the Carabao Cup this season. However, City is their most likely cause of failure to make a clean sweep of trophies.
Like City, the Reds path to the last four of the FA Cup has been relatively comfortable. Klopp’s team eliminated Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Norwich at Anfield before a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest in the quarter-finals.
Conclusion
It has been so difficult to separate these two teams in recent games and arguably seasons. Both games between these two teams this season have finished 2-2.
There is a key difference in this clash, in that City had to field a full-strength starting line-up against Atletico and endured a difficult night. Liverpool on the other hand could afford to rest players. That is the deciding factor for us and we are predicting a Liverpool win. The games between these two teams always produce goals, so we are also backing over 2.5 goals scored.
Our Tips: We are backing Liverpool to win at odds of 7/4 and/or over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 8/11. (All odds are taken from Bet365).
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Which of these two Premier League titans will book their place in the FA Cup final?
