We’re down to the final eight in the FA Cup.
The quarterfinals of English soccer’s oldest competition, which run this weekend, feature a battle of Premier League heavyweights, plus two lower-division teams that are looking to move one step closer toward booking a spot in the final on May 25 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Here’s what you need to know about the FA Cup’s quarterfinals:
The format
The four matchups that make up this round are all single elimination and not two-legged, home-and-away affairs.
Games that are tied after 90 minutes of regulation will go to extra time and penalty kicks (if necessary) to determine who moves on. Similar to the fifth round, there are no replays in the quarterfinals.
The four winners advance to the semifinals on the weekend of April 20.
Marquee matchup: Manchester United vs. Liverpool
The highlight of the FA Cup quarterfinals sees old adversaries Manchester United and Liverpool renew their bitter rivalry at Old Trafford on Sunday (11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT).
A whopping 17 points separates co-Premier League leaders Liverpool and sixth-place Manchester United in the table. While Liverpool has lost only once in all competitions in 2024, United has suffered setbacks against Manchester City and Fulham.
Manager Erik ten Hag’s future has been the hot topic of discussion throughout the Premier League campaign because of the Red Devils’ fall from grace after finishing third in 2022-23. The FA Cup is ten Hag’s last opportunity to win silverware this season after United was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and are well off the pace of a top-four finish in the Premier League — they trail Aston Villa by eight points with just 10 games remaining.
Liverpool is unbeaten in its last five Premier League outings, including a 1-1 draw at home vs. Manchester City last weekend, so Jurgen Klopp’s side enters this weekend’s match with a fair bit of confidence. However, Man United can take some comfort in the fact that it beat Liverpool the last time the two teams met at Old Trafford — the Red Devils earned a 2-1 win in the Premier League last season.
History also favours Manchester United, who’ve eliminated Liverpool on 10 occasions from the FA Cup, including in their last encounter, in January 2021. In 14 previous FA Cup battles, Liverpool has emerged victorious just four times.
Manchester United has failed to score against Liverpool in six of the last nine meetings — including the last two — between the clubs in all competitions. As such, this would be a good time for Danish forward Rasmus Højlund, the club’s top scorer this season with 13 goals in all competitions, to come good before the Old Trafford faithful.
Egyptian international Mohamed Salah recently made history by becoming the first Liverpool player to score 20 or more goals in seven consecutive campaigns. But he hasn’t played in any of the Reds’ three FA Cup matches this season. You have to think that Klopp will turn to Salah on Sunday, given the fact that the Egyptian has 12 goals and four assists in 13 previous encounters with United.
Manchester City looking to repeat as FA Cup champs
Another battle of Premier League clubs sees Manchester City welcome Newcastle United to City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT).
While City is just a single point off the pace of Premier League co-leaders Arsenal and Liverpool, Newcastle United finds itself languishing in 10th place and 15 points out of a top-four spot. What’s more, the Magpies have just one win in their last four Premier League outings, and they needed a penalty shootout to get past second-division club Blackburn Rovers in the previous round of the FA Cup.
Man City is riding high in its attempt to repeat as FA Cup champions. The Blues haven’t lost a Premier League match since December and are coming off a 3-1 win over Copenhagen FC this week to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Norwegian international Erling Haaland has five goals in the FA Cup this season, accounting for almost half of City’s 12 goals in the competition.
Newcastle has lost 15 of its previous 16 road matches against Manchester City in all competitions, including the last nine in a row. However, the Magpies did eliminate the Blues in this season’s Leagues Cup, courtesy of Swedish forward Alexander Isak’s goal in the 53rd minute in a 1-0 home win back in September.
Chelsea catching Leicester City at the right time
For the second round in a row, Chelsea will host a second division club in the FA Cup when it welcomes Leicester City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (8:45 a.m. ET / 5:45 a.m. PT).
In the fifth round, Chelsea bested Leeds United in a 3-2 victory. But the visitors, who are pushing for automatic promotion to the Premier League next season, fielded a rotated starting 11 against Chelsea.
Sunday’s match could be a repeat of that same scenario. Leicester City tops the Championship table (the top two teams win automatic promotion), but it is only four points above Ipswich Town after winning just one of its previous five league matches.
What once seemed like a procession march to the title now looks like an uncomfortable battle for Leicester, and Italian manager Enzo Maresca might choose to prioritize the championship by resting his key starters for this weekend’s FA Cup clash.
Chelsea has lost just one of its last 21 home games in the FA Cup, recording 18 wins along the way. That might give Maresca even more incentive to field a less-than-strength starting 11 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Wolves dealing with injuries
Another Premier League vs. Championship battle takes place when Coventry City takes on Wolves at Molineux Stadium on Saturday (8:15 a.m. ET / 5:15 a.m. PT).
Coventry City sits eighth in the Championship table but has pretty much cruised through the FA Cup and eliminated sixth-division side Maidstone United in the previous round. Wolves are ninth in the Premier League and have posted back-to-back shutout wins in the FA Cup.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil is dealing with injury issues, as Portuguese winger Pedro Neto will miss Saturday’s game after aggravating a hamstring problem. French midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is also a doubt with a knee injury.
Wolves are unbeaten in their last five home games against Coventry City in all competitions. But the Sky Blues won the previous FA Cup meeting between the clubs — a 3-0 win in the third round during the 1983-84 season.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.