Ahead of this weekend's Emirates FA Cup semi-final ties at Wembley, we take a look at some stats and facts from both ties courtesy of our friends from Opta.
Manchester City v Liverpool
3.30pm BST, Saturday 16 April
Where to watch
● Manchester City and Liverpool have met twice before at Wembley stadium, with both games ending in a 1-1 draw before going to penalties. The Citizens eventually emerged victorious on both occasions in 2016 (League Cup final) and 2019 (Community Shield).
● This is the first FA Cup meeting between City and Liverpool since Gérard Houllier’s Reds ran out 1-0 victors away from home over Kevin Keegan’s men in 2003, with Danny Murphy netting the winner. Indeed, Liverpool’s only two defeats to City in the competition came in replays, winning three of the other five games (D2).
● This is the first FA Cup meeting between teams in the top-two of the Premier League on the day of the game since the 2016-17 semi-final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, a 4-2 victory for the Blues. The only other occasion the semi-final of the FA Cup was contested by the Premier League’s top-two teams was in 1998-99, won 2-1 by Manchester United against Arsenal after a replay.
● Following their Premier League fixture last weekend, Liverpool and City will meet twice in the space of a week for the first time since April 2018, when both legs of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final came six days apart. The sides last contested two separate competitions in such a short amount of time during Jürgen Klopp’s first season at the club in 2015-16, losing the League Cup final three days before a 3-0 Premier League win over Manuel Pellegrini’s men.
● Manchester City are appearing in their fifth FA Cup semi-final in the last six years – only missing out in 2017-18 – and all coming under Pep Guardiola. They have however lost three of the previous four games (W1) after what was an eight-match winning streak at this stage between 1933 and 2013.
● Liverpool have progressed from eight of their last ten FA Cup semi-final ties, only failing to do so in this run in 1989-90 (v Crystal Palace) and in their most recent appearance at this stage in 2014-15 under Brendan Rodgers (v Aston Villa).
● When used as a neutral venue, Liverpool haven’t won any of their last six games at Wembley (D4 L2), though did beat Chelsea on penalties in the League Cup final in February. Having won more matches at the old venue than any other side (15), Liverpool have only won one of their eight encounters at the new site (2-1 v Everton in 2012).
● Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez has scored four goals in three FA Cup games this season, double that of in his 20 appearances beforehand (2). He’s scored in round four, round five and the quarter-final this season – the last Premier League player to score in four consecutive rounds in the same campaign was Romelu Lukaku for Manchester United in 2017-18.
● Throughout their managerial careers, neither City’s Pep Guardiola nor Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp have lost more often against any other manager than they have against one another. In domestic cup competition, they have one win apiece against each other, with Guardiola’s Bayern Munich beating Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the 2014 DFB-Pokal final, and Klopp returning the favour in the 2014-15 semi-final (2-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw).
● Only four of the last 34 Wembley goals scored by either Liverpool or Manchester City have come via English players, with Raheem Sterling responsible for each, all since moving to Manchester. The last Englishman to net for the Reds at this venue was Andy Carroll in May 2012, with Joleon Lescott the most recent before Sterling to do so for the Citizens (August 2011).
Chelsea v Crystal Palace
4.30pm BST, Sunday 17 April 2022
Where to watch
● Chelsea have won each of their last nine fixtures with Crystal Palace, all coming in the Premier League. In the club’s history, they’ve enjoyed five separate instances of ten plus successive wins against an opponent, most recently a run of eleven versus Brighton between 1967 and 2019.
● Crystal Palace and Chelsea have both progressed from two of the four previous FA Cup ties between the sides, with this their first clash in the competition since round five in 1975-76, when the Eagles won 3-2.
● Chelsea have lost each of their last two FA Cup London derbies, both coming against Arsenal in the 2017 and 2020 final. In fact, each of the Blues’ last six such losses in the competition have come at the hands of the Gunners, remaining unbeaten in the other ten London derby games before that 2017 final (W8 D2).
● Chelsea are set to appear in their 26th FA Cup semi-final, with only Arsenal and Manchester United (30 each) appearing in more. 50 per cent of these appearances have come since the turn of the millennium (13), at least three more times than any other side over that timeframe.
● Crystal Palace have progressed to the final of the FA Cup on two of the last three occasions they’ve reached the final four, most recently in 2015-16. This is their sixth appearance at this stage, though they are the only one of the remaining sides never to win the competition.
● This will be Chelsea’s 40th match taking place at Wembley stadium, with only Manchester United (52) and Arsenal (42) appearing there more regularly when used as a neutral venue (Liverpool also 40). Having already competed in the League Cup final this season, the Blues will play multiple matches at the venue for the sixth successive campaign.
● Michael Olise has had a direct hand in 50 per cent of Crystal Palace’s ten FA Cup goals this season (two goals, three assists), with no player registering more direct goal involvements in the competition this campaign than the Eagles winger (same as Riyad Mahrez).
● Only Sergio Agüero (20) has scored more FA Cup goals than Romelu Lukaku (16) since the Belgian’s debut in the competition in January 2012, netting in three of Chelsea’s four matches this season. Lukaku has scored eight goals in 12 previous appearances at neutral venues in all competitions when playing for sides within the big five European leagues, though is yet to net at Wembley in four appearances.
● Including two-legged affairs, Thomas Tuchel has overseen eleven wins and one draw in 12 previous semi-final matches in all competitions, going on to progress to the final each time. Across his spells with Dortmund, PSG and current club Chelsea, his sides have scored 28 goals in these matches, conceding only four times, and keeping nine clean sheets.
● Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira was last involved in an FA semi-final in 2010-11, when at Man City, he came on as a late substitute in a 1-0 win over Man Utd at Wembley. As a player, he faced Chelsea in five different matches without ever losing in the competition (W4 D1), including the 2002 final, which turned out to be the second of his five trophies.
