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Etihad Stadium, 12:45 BST
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2nd in Premier League v 5th in Premier League
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Gap = 3
It seems a section of Liverpool fans are not convinced by Arne Slot, and the Reds’ poor Premier League form before the international break has put him under more pressure.
Liverpool have taken one point from their past three games and their last performance, in an away defeat at Brighton, was really insipid.
I still think it would be extremely harsh if they end up parting ways after the guy won them the title in his first year in the job but this feels like a huge week or two for Slot, and for Liverpool’s whole campaign, with the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris St-Germain to come in France on Wednesday.
Right now, Liverpool are miles off the team they were last season and beating City probably feels more achievable than getting past PSG.
I’m not convinced they will do it though, and if they end up going out of both competitions in the space of 10 days then the Liverpool fans are going to be even more disgruntled.
City are already out of Europe, and it will be hard, but not impossible, for them to win the Premier League from here, but Pep has already landed the Carabao Cup and he always takes the FA Cup seriously anyway.
They are looking to extend their own record by reaching the semi-final for the eighth successive season and, if they get to the final, they will be the first team to make it to four in a row.
City could really do with getting Erling Haaland firing again, while this is Liverpool’s first game since Mohamed Salah announced he will be leaving at the end of the season.
There are so many different ways to look at this tie, and who might step up to win it for either team, but City are at home and they have also beaten Liverpool twice already this season in the league. I just have a feeling they will take this one as well.
Sutton’s prediction: 3-1
Richard’s prediction: City are going to win this in 90 minutes. They are just lucky they don’t have to face Palace in the cup again, although we do still have to play them for their game in hand in the league. 2-1
AI’s prediction: 2-1
