Here are the numbers ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final between Man City and Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola's team have won the Carabao Cup this season and are just 180 minutes away from reaching the FA Cup final (if they make it, this will be their fourth final in four years).

They have also reached the semi-finals in seven consecutive seasons, setting a new record for the competition.

Man City are aiming for their 18th consecutive home win in the FA Cup.

Moreover, as a testament to how well Man City have played in cup competitions under Guardiola, they have won all 31 of their most recent FA Cup matches (excluding semi-finals and finals) since losing to Wigan in the fifth round of the 2017/18 season.

If they win again on Saturday, the home team will achieve 18 consecutive home wins in the FA Cup, breaking the record they currently share with Clapham Rovers (17 wins – from December 1873 to February 1881).

The last time Liverpool reached the final (in 2022), they won, beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw (after extra time).

Manager Arne Slot may feel optimistic as Liverpool have won 17 of their last 19 FA Cup quarter-finals, but one of the two defeats was the classic 4-3 match at Old Trafford against Manchester United in 2024, the last time they reached this stage of the competition.

Liverpool have never lost two consecutive quarter-finals since the 1960s.

They have also never lost two consecutive quarter-finals since the Bill Shankly era (1967/68 and 1969/70). However, they have never won two away matches against Premier League opponents in an FA Cup campaign since beating Portsmouth and Birmingham in the 2005/06 season (Wolves were defeated 3-1 in the fifth round of this season's competition).

Although the team is not in the best form in the current campaign, they will be facing Man City for the seventh time in an FA Cup match, and in four of the last six matches, it was in fact the Reds who secured their place in the next round.  

Arsenal are still top of the Premier League, with Man City in second place. Man City have already beaten Liverpool both home and away this season. If they win one more match, it will be the first time since 1937 that The Reds have lost three consecutive matches to this opponent.

Arsenal were comprehensively beaten by Man City in the Carabao Cup final, but Mikel Arteta's team are still nine points ahead with seven games left to play (Man City have a game in hand and will host Arsenal in more than two weeks' time).

Will the UCL affect Slot's selection?

Liverpool have a crucial match against the current Champions League holders, Paris Saint-Germain, just four days after this cup match, which could affect Slot's team selection on Saturday. However, ultimately, The Reds have a better chance of winning the FA Cup this season than the Champions League.

One player who is definitely set to start is Mo Salah. The Egyptian has scored 13 goals and provided eight assists against Man City, and has scored in each of the last three FA Cup matches.

Alexander Isak is likely to participate in the match, after undergoing a late fitness test to determine whether he can play after several months out with injury.

Regardless of who leads the attack for either team, goals are almost guaranteed, as both teams have scored in all their FA Cup matches this season. Man City have scored 15 goals in three matches (against Exeter City, Salford City and Newcastle), while Liverpool have scored 10 goals in matches against Barnsley, Brighton and Wolves.

The expected goals

In the last six matches, there have been at least two goals scored.

With John Stones having only a 25% chance of playing in this match, and Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias definitely out, Liverpool could target the centre-back pairing that Man City are likely to use, as in the Carabao Cup final: Nathan Aké and Abdukodir Khusanov.

Both teams have a collective pass completion rate of 90% in the competition this season, the second best of all teams, with 262 passes from Dominik Szoboszlai surpassing any Man City player.

Rayan Cherki (11 chances created, 2 assists) and Tijjani Reijnders (14 shots in total, 4 on target) are definitely players that Liverpool must watch, while 8 chances created and 3 on-target shots by Szoboszlai make him a real danger for the opposition.

Both teams have not lost a match when scoring first this season, and both have scored more goals in the second half of FA Cup matches in the 25/26 season than before half-time, conceding only once before the end of the first half.

Another spectacular encounter is expected...