Middlesbrough v Chelsea
5.15pm, Saturday 19 March 2022
The Riverside Stadium
● Since recording back-to-back Premier League wins over Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in February and August 2006, Middlesbrough have lost each of their last eight matches with the Blues in all competitions without scoring a single goal.
● Only against Crystal Palace (9) and Bolton Wanderers (10) are Chelsea on a current longer winning run in all competitions than against Middlesbrough (8), with the Blues netting 19 times without conceding across this spell.
● Middlesbrough have never won against reigning European champions in 20 attempts (D7 L13), playing more such games without ever winning than any other English side. This is their first such match since February 2013, and a home defeat in the FA Cup against Chelsea.
● Chelsea have won three of the previous four FA Cup clashes with Middlesbrough, only losing in the third round in 1993. One of those previous matchups was the 1997 showpiece, when Middlesbrough – appearing in their first and only FA Cup Final – suffered a 2-0 defeat at Wembley thanks to goals from Roberto Di Matteo and Eddie Newton.
● Middlesbrough are appearing in their first FA Cup quarter-final since 2016-17, when they lost 2-0 at home to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. They’ve been eliminated at this stage on each of the last four occasions they’ve reached the final eight, since making the semi-finals in 2005-06 under Steve McClaren.
● Middlesbrough have eliminated two Premier League clubs en-route to the quarter-finals, beating Man Utd on penalties and Spurs via extra-time. This is the first time since 1991-92 (Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City) they’ve knocked out multiple top-flight clubs in the same FA Cup season when playing outside of the division themselves, with Wigan in 2017-18 the most recent such side to do so on three occasions.
● Chelsea have gone on to progress from 15 of their last 19 FA Cup quarter-final ties, with only Everton (26), Man Utd and Arsenal (both 30) reaching the final four on more occasions than the Blues in the competition’s history (25 times).
● Thomas Tuchel has progressed from each of his last seven ties at the quarter-final stage across all competitions as both Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager, a run which started halfway through the 2018-19 campaign (Coupe de France x2, Coupe de la Ligue, Champions League x2, FA Cup, League Cup).
● Romelu Lukaku has had a direct hand in three goals in three previous appearances against Middlesbrough (2 goals, 1 assist), all as an Everton player. The Chelsea striker, who netted the winner in the fifth round this season, has 15 FA Cup goals to his name since his debut in January 2012, a tally bettered by only Harry Kane, Olivier Giroud (both 16) and Sergio Agüero (20).
● Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder has overseen four matches against Chelsea during his career, all with Sheffield United, taking four points from the Blues during the 2020-21 Premier League campaign. However, the Blades did lose both league fixtures the following season, the second of which was against Thomas Tuchel.
Crystal Palace v Everton
12.30pm, Sunday 20 March 2022
Selhurst Park
● Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Everton in December in the Premier League was their first against the Toffees in 14 matches (D7 L6), with their last success in this fixture before this season coming in September 2014. The Eagles have never beaten Everton twice in the same campaign.
● Everton haven’t lost consecutive away games at Crystal Palace since 1971, when they lost in back-to-back away top-flight visits. The Toffees conceded as many times in their Premier League trip in December than they had in the eight visits beforehand (3).
● 31 goals have been scored across the seven previous FA Cup clashes between Crystal Palace (11) and Everton (20), with both sides recording separate 6-0 wins over the other in the competition. However, the Eagles have only progressed from one of those five ties, doing so in 1921-22. Their last meeting in the competition was in 1971-72 in the third round (Everton won 3-2 in a replay).
● Everton are appearing in the quarter-final of the FA Cup for the 47th time, the outright most of any side in the competition’s history. The Toffees have progressed to the final four in 57% of those ties (26/46), last doing so in 2015-16 under Roberto Martinez.
● This is Crystal Palace’s second FA Cup quarter-final in the last four seasons, falling at this stage in 2018-19 to Watford. The Eagles had only reached the final eight in two of the 28 campaigns before that season, in 1994-95 and 2015-16, going on the reach the final of the latter.
● Everton are winless in their last ten FA Cup away games in London (D4 L6) since beating Charlton in the third round in 1991 under Howard Kendall. The Toffees have conceded 20 times in those trips, 70% of which have come in their most recent five games (14).
● No player has been involved in more FA Cup goals this season than Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise (4), with Olise scoring two and assisting two of the Eagles’ six goals in the competition this term.
● Richarlison has scored five goals in his six FA Cup starts for Everton, though four of these strikes have come at Goodison Park.
● Four-time FA Cup winner and Everton boss Frank Lampard has won ten of his 14 matches in the competition since becoming a manager ahead of the 2018-19 campaign (D2 L2), with Pep Guardiola (17) the only boss to oversee more victories in the competition since Lampard’s first game in charge in the FA Cup.
● Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira remains unbeaten in his last 18 games in the FA Cup as a player (15) and a manager (3), since losing the 2003-04 semi-final against Man Utd with Arsenal. Indeed, Vieira and Everton manager Frank Lampard lined up against one another during the 2002 final, a match in which the Gunners won 2-0 at the Principality Stadium with goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg.
Southampton v Manchester City
3pm, Sunday 20 March 2022
St. Mary's Stadium
● Southampton and Manchester City will meet three times in the same campaign for the second time in the last three seasons, also doing so in 2019-20, when the Saints won the only one of those games to be played at St Mary’s (1-0 in the Premier League).
● Each of the two Premier League clashes between Southampton and Man City this season have ended level, 0-0 at the Etihad and 1-1 at St Mary’s most recently. The last side to face the Citizens at least three times in the same campaign without losing were Liverpool in 2015-16.
● Since Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, Southampton have managed to win just one of the 13 clashes between the sides (D3 L9), a 1-0 win in July 2020 on home soil.
● Manchester City last faced Southampton in the FA Cup back in January 2007 in the fourth round, with goals from Darius Vassell, Joey Barton and DaMarcus Beasley turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 victory (Kenwyne Jones with the goal for the Saints).
● Southampton have only lost three of their last 18 FA Cup matches, two of which have come at the semi-final stage at Wembley (W12 D3). Indeed, at home Saints are unbeaten in their last eight in the competition (W6 D2) since a 5-0 loss to Arsenal in the fourth round in 2016-17.
● This will be Manchester City’s fifth FA Cup quarter-final in six seasons under Pep Guardiola, only missing out in 2017-18. Their previous five appearances at this stage came across eleven campaigns between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Each of their four previous ties under the Spaniard at this stage have come away from home, progressing each time.
● No team has scored more FA Cup goals than Manchester City this season (ten, level with Chelsea and Barrow). The Citizens have only failed to score in two of their last 19 games in the competition (netting 58 goals in total), with both of those games being in semi-final defeats in the last two seasons.
● Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling is yet to score in this season’s FA Cup, though he has netted in the competition in each of the last seven campaigns, since 2014-15 with Liverpool. The last player to score in eight successive FA Cup seasons was Darren Bent between 2009-10 and 2016-17.
● Armando Broja has been involved in four goals in five domestic cup appearances for Southampton this season (three goals, one assist), with both of his involvements in the FA Cup coming off the bench (assist vs Coventry, goal v West Ham).
● Phil Foden has had a direct hand in ten goals in just nine FA Cup starts for Manchester City, scoring six times and register a further four assists, two of which came in the fifth round at Peterborough.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool
6pm, Sunday 20 March 2022
The City Ground
● This is the first meeting in any competition between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool since a 2-2 draw at the City Ground in April 1999 in the Premier League.
● Liverpool are winless in their last 12 away games against Nottingham Forest in all competitions (D7 L5), since a 2-0 victory in October 1984. It’s the Reds’ longest current winless away run against an opponent, while they last had a longer run against a side v Arsenal (14 between 2000 and 2011).
● This is the first FA Cup meeting between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool since the 1988-89 semi-final, when the Reds’ won 3-1 at Old Trafford en-route to winning the trophy. Overall, Liverpool have progressed from six of their seven FA Cup ties against Nottingham Forest, failing only in the first such meeting in February 1895.
● This is the first time Liverpool have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup under Jürgen Klopp, with the previous occasion in which they did so coming in April 2015 under Brendan Rodgers. The Reds, however, have progressed past this stage in 16 of the last 17 campaigns they’ve reached the final eight.
● Liverpool have won just two of their last eight FA Cup matches away from home (D2 L4), with the Reds conceding at least twice in six of those games. Each of their three matches this season have come at Anfield.
● Liverpool have progressed from 13 of their last 15 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, only failing to do so v Oldham in 2012-13 (fourth round) and Wolves in 2016-17 (fourth round). They last fell at this stage of the competition to a side outside the top-flight in 1969-70 against Watford under Bill Shankly.
● Liverpool have progressed from/won eight different ties across the League Cup (5) and FA Cup (3) this season. Not since 2011-12 have the Reds made it through more rounds across England’s domestic cup competitions (11), when they won the League Cup and finished as runners-up in the FA Cup under Kenny Dalglish.
● This is Nottingham Forest’s first FA Cup quarter-final match since the 1995-96 campaign, when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Forest last reached the semi-final of the competition in 1990-91, when they eventually lost in the Final to Tottenham Hotspur.
● Nottingham Forest have already eliminated two Premier League opponents in this season’s FA Cup, knocking out Arsenal in round three and holders Leicester in round four. The last time Forest were successful in three consecutive FA Cup ties against top-flight opponents was in 1990-91 (Crystal Palace, Southampton and Norwich City).
● Since the start of 2020, Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino has scored nine goals in domestic cup competitions (six in the League Cup, three in the FA Cup), the joint-most of any player alongside Jay Rodriguez and Kelechi Iheanacho. In fact, Minamino has scored with each of his nine shots on target across these two competitions.
