FA Cup Preview: Man United, Liverpool fight for place in semis

On Sunday, Manchester United and Liverpool, two Premier League giants, fight for a place in the semifinals of the FA Cup.

A whopping 17 points separates Liverpool, second-place in the Premier League, and sixth-place Manchester United. While Liverpool has lost only once in all competitions in 2024, United has suffered setbacks against Manchester City and Fulham. 

The winner will advance to the semifinals of English soccer’s oldest competition on the weekend of April 20. 

Here’s what you need to know about Sunday's marquee matchup.

The format   

The match is single elimination and not two-legged, home-and-away affairs.   

If the game is tied after 90 minutes of regulation, it 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.   

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). 

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. 

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.