Citizens and Reds continue to battle on two fronts

The FA Cup returns this weekend with the quarter-final stages as Manchester City and Liverpool look to keep their respective hopes of a domestic double alive.

Pep Guardiola’s side faces their first serious test in the competition with a trip to Southampton on Sunday evening (17h00 kick-off CAT).

The Premier League leaders are bidding to win the coveted cup for a seventh time, although they haven’t had much success in recent times.

City last lifted the trophy in 2019 when they thrashed Watford 6-0 – their only final appearance since 2013.

The Citizens booked their place in the last-eight with a 2-0 victory over Peterborough, having overcome Swindon Town and Fulham by 4-1 scorelines in the previous two rounds.

Guardiola acknowledged their class shone through against the Posh as goals from Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish saw off the challenge from the Championship strugglers.

“We are in the next round and in the end, the quality of our players made the difference,” the Spaniard said. “They were brilliant goals. The quality of Riyad and the second goal the same. It was good.”

The Saints held City to a 1-1 draw in the league earlier this year and they will be determined to cause a cup upset at St Mary’s.

The south-coast club have one FA Cup title to their name, which came all the way back in 1976. Their last run to the final was in 2003 when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men eliminated league rivals West Ham in the fifth round with a 3-1 win, while they needed extra time to get past Swansea City (3-2) and Coventry City (2-1) in the preceding two rounds.

Meanwhile, the City Ground will stage the battle of the Reds as Nottingham Forest play host to Liverpool on Sunday night (20h00 kick-off CAT).

Jurgen Klopp’s charges trail Manchester City by just three points in the top tier of English football and they are seeking a first FA Cup trophy in 16 years.

The Merseysiders have won the famous competition seven times, but haven’t reached the final since 2012 when they lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

They had a fairly comfortable run to the quarter-finals by beating Shrewsbury Town 4-1, Cardiff City 3-1 and Norwich City 2-1.

Klopp made 10 changes against the Canaries in the fifth round and he was pleased with how the players stepped up to get the job done.

“Nobody knows what will happen this year, but in the long term, we need this kind of quality. The boys have to be ready. They don’t fight each other for a position but they have to fight to be their best version,” the German said.

Forest have already claimed two Premier League scalps this year after knocking out Arsenal and defending champions Leicester in the third and fourth rounds respectively.

Steve Cooper’s troops advanced to the last-eight courtesy of 2-1 win against Championship rivals Huddersfield Town.