FA Cup

Pep Guardiola has made four changes to his starting lineup for this afternoon's FA Cup quarter-final at Southampton.

And we know we will need to be on top form to progress to the last four. Rodrigo will sit just in front of the back four to add a layer of disciplined protection. They are a well-organised side with a manager who demands energy and industry as standard. And Kevin De Bruyne is one of the most gifted midfielders in the game. John Stones and Aymeric Laporte continue together at the heart of the defence. Zack Steffen once again starts a domestic cup fixture.

Match preview ahead of Nottingham Forest v Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter final at the City Ground, The Reds' latest cup final...

He allows himself to think further into the future only because he was asked the question, but his focus is still on the game that comes next. I think Fabinho will anchor the midfield alongside Curtis Jones and Naby Keita. It’s a fantastic opportunity, that’s absolutely true — the only problem we have is Nottingham Forest and another team we could theoretically face in the semi-final who want to do the same. “It is nice to play the semi-final at Wembley, absolutely nice, but actually the real deal is then a few weeks later. He’s already confirmed Alisson Becker will start in goal, which could give hints to what else we’ll look like further up the pitch. With every press conference that passes, his steeliness in the face of the growing pressure that surrounds the team’s title charge best sums up why there is such a laser-like focus around the club.

The Emirates FA Cup semi-final draw for the 2021-22 season was made on Sunday evening, with the final four teams left in the competition set for Wembley ...

Manchester City will face Liverpool in this season's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium.

Crystal Palace have reached the semi-finals of the 2021/22 FA Cup, beating Everton 4-0 to book their first trip to Wembley since 2016.

The draw will be shown live on ITV1 or the ITV Hub. Alternatively, it will be broadcast live via the FA Cup Twitter and Facebook pages. Palace beat Watford in that game to reach the 2016 final, and will be hoping to emulate their success that day in this year's competition.

The institution of the FA Cup is widely devalued but Sunday's Nottingham Forest v Liverpool brings up memories of a more innocent age.

The decline of Forest from European champions to top-six challengers in the 80s tends to be put down to Clough’s falling out with Taylor, and that clearly was a major factor, but so, too, were basic issues of finance. In 1977, they were run by a committee headed by the chairman, Brian Appleby, a lawyer, and his deputy, Stuart Dryden, a sub-postmaster. He named Liverpool, Leeds “and others”. If you assume by that he meant Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United, 30 of the next 35 league titles would be won by that five-team elite before Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea broke the sequence. It was, Thompson admitted, “a professional foul”, and today it would be a clear red card, but Liverpool were furious. Forest were without three cup-tied players, including Peter Shilton, which meant a start in goal for Chris Woods who, at 18 years and 124 days, remains the youngest goalkeeper to play in a Wembley final. Before the replay at Old Trafford, Clough’s assistant, Peter Taylor, took the squad to Scarborough, ostensibly to relax them, although the trip served a useful secondary function in helping him move some furniture up to an apartment he had bought there.