Manchester City face Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals aiming to keep alive their last chance of silverware in a turbulent season.
City are the last of the Premier League’s big guns still standing as Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brighton headline the FA Cup’s year of the underdog.
AFP Sport looks at the key storylines ahead of the weekend’s action:
In danger of enduring their first season without a major trophy since 2016-17, Manchester City will head to Bournemouth with some trepidation after losing at the Vitality Stadium earlier this term.
When Pep Guardiola’s men were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth in the Premier League in November, it was the first time in their history that City had lost to the Cherries.
The shock loss foreshadowed City’s astonishing decline as they won just one of their next 11 games in all competitions.
After six English titles in the past seven seasons, City — languishing in fifth place in the Premier League — have been reduced to battling to qualify for next season’s Champions League and avoiding their first campaign without silverware since Guardiola’s maiden year at the Etihad Stadium.
A defeat at Nottingham Forest and a draw with Brighton in their last two games serve as a reminder that Guardiola is yet to solve the litany of issues that have plagued City this season.
Suffering more misery at Bournemouth — who have never reached the FA Cup semi-finals — would be another ignominious moment in a brutal season for Guardiola.
Fulham will host Crystal Palace on Saturday with history in their sights as the Cottagers look to end half a century of FA Cup futility.
The west London club haven’t reached the FA Cup final for 50 years — when they lost their only appearance in the showpiece to West Ham — and their last semi-final berth came back in 2002.
Marco Silva’s men beat holders Manchester United on penalties in the fifth round, but they suffered a 2-0 home defeat against Palace in the league in February.
Including that victory, Oliver Glasner’s team are on an impressive run of five successive away wins in all competitions and have kept six consecutive clean sheets on the road.
Palace, who have never won the FA Cup, could welcome back Jean-Philippe Mateta after the French striker trained this week following the ugly challenge from Millwall keeper Liam Roberts that left him with 25 stitches around his ear.
Nottingham Forest will be without star striker Chris Wood as they target another milestone moment in their dream season.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have climbed to third in the Premier League, leaving them within touching distance of appearing in the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81.
Leading Forest to their first FA Cup semi-final spot since 1991 — when they lost the final to Tottenham — would further strengthen Nuno’s credentials to be named manager of the year.
But Forest have to do it the hard way after their leading scorer Wood was ruled out with a hip injury sustained in international duty with New Zealand.
“He will not be available for this game. He felt a kick really hard on his hip so there is pain there,” Nuno said.
Sitting 14th in the Championship, Preston host Aston Villa as the last team from outside the Premier League left in this season’s FA Cup.
Preston won the FA Cup in 1889 and 1938, but haven’t made the semi-finals since 1964 and last played in the top flight in 1961.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side face a Villa team looking to make the semi-finals for the first time in 10 years.
Villa, who are through to the Champions League quarter-finals, haven’t won the FA Cup since 1957, with their last final ending in defeat against Arsenal in 2015.
Fixtures (all times GMT):
Saturday
Fulham v Crystal Palace (1215), Brighton v Nottingham Forest (1715)
Sunday
Preston v Aston Villa (1230), Bournemouth v Manchester City (1530)
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