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MANCHESTER: Liverpool face a daunting trip to Manchester City in the standout tie of the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend as Mohamed Salah seeks to end nine spectacular seasons at Anfield on a high.
Arsenal and Chelsea will expect to reach the semi-finals at Wembley against lower tier opposition, while West Ham United and Leeds put their battle for Premier League survival on hold in a bid to reach the last four.
The Reds have to get past City without injured goalkeeper Alisson Becker who will miss the Saturday’s clash and both legs of the Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain.
Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to deputise for Alisson at the Etihad.
City produced perhaps their best performance of the season to dominate Arsenal and win the League Cup final 2-0 before the international break.
They remain in the running to match their feat as the only English side to ever win the domestic treble of League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League in 2018/19.
Liverpool face a defining 10 days for their season and possibly Arne Slot’s future at Anfield.
Languishing fifth in the Premier League, the FA Cup and Champions League are the Reds’ only remaining hope of glory.
One positive for Liverpool is that their record signing Alexander Isak may be fit to play a part against City, though, having returned to training after breaking his leg in December.
“It will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes,” Slot said of Isak on Friday.
“We will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up in minutes, but it’s a very good thing to have him on the training ground again.
“It would be even better to have him available for games, that’s for sure.”
After visiting the Etihad, Slot’s men face European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals over two legs on April 8 and 14.
Despite leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title less than a year ago, Slot is under huge pressure to end a difficult second season on a high if he is to remain in the job.
The rest of Liverpool’s season will also be marked by a long farewell to Salah.
The Egyptian announced over the international break that he will leave at the end of the campaign having netted 255 goals so far for the club.
“Hopefully he can make his legacy even more special in the upcoming weeks and months where we still play for something special, but he will always leave this club as a legend,” said Slot.
Fernandez dropped
Meanwhile, Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior confirmed Enzo Fernandez would not be part of the squad for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale and next weekend’s Premier League game against City.
The Argentinian midfielder will miss Chelsea’s next two matches after he “crossed a line” with comments that cast doubt on his future at Stamford Bridge.
The 25-year-old, linked with Real Madrid, fuelled speculation by telling a podcast he would like to live in the Spanish capital.
“I spoke with Enzo about an hour ago,” Rosenior said on Friday. “As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game or Manchester City next Sunday.
“It’s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way. I have got no bad words to say about him, but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.”
Four consecutive defeats have plunged Rosenior’s future into doubt less than three months into his reign.
A Port Vale side rooted to the bottom of League One and headed for the fourth tier should still pose little problems for the Premier League giants.
But Vale have won as many games in the FA and League Cup this season (seven) as they have in 38 league games.
Premier League leaders Arsenal will also be in action on Saturday where Mikel Arteta’s team selection will be scrutinised at St. Mary’s after most of his key players pulled out of international duty with injuries.
Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes were among the 10 Gunners’ to withdraw from action with their nations.
Arteta is seeking a reaction after Arsenal’s six-year wait for a trophy was prolonged by City at Wembley.
But they remain in pole position for a first Premier League title in 22 years and also have a favourable Champions League quarter-final draw against Sporting Lisbon.
Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2026
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