Manchester City, United the last remaining giants ahead of FA Cup quarterfinals

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Manchester City, United the last remaining giants ahead of FA Cup quarterfinals

The oldest cup competition in the world only has two of England’s biggest clubs remaining.

The two Manchester clubs, City and United, enter the FA Cup quarterfinals looking to avoid being on the end of an upset.

City take on EFL Championship side Burnley at Etihad Stadium on Saturday (1:45 p.m. ET), continuing their quest for a first FA Cup title since 2018-19. On the other end, United host fellow Premier League team Fulham on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET) as the Red Devils look to add to their League Cup victory this season.

The other two quarterfinal matches see Sheffield United take on Blackburn Rovers (8 a.m. ET) and Brighton & Hove Albion facing Grimsby Town (10:15 a.m. ET).

Pep Guardiola’s men enter the quarterfinal on the high of a sensational 7-0 win against German side RB Leipzig in the Champions League. Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland became only the third player in UCL history to score five goals in a game. He was substituted off after 63 minutes of play, but it seemed like he had more in the tank.

It has yet to be confirmed, but Haaland will likely receive a well-deserved day off after his blistering European performance. In their 3-0 win over Championship club Bristol City in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Guardiola tapped in 2022 World Cup champion striker Julian Alvarez in Haaland’s place.

The Argentine didn’t record a goal, with Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden taking care of business. However, Alvarez set up Foden for his second goal of the match, which sealed the 3-0 victory in the 81st minute.

Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United continue their path for a first FA Cup since 2015-16 against a Fulham squad that defeated Leeds 2-0 to get the quarters.

London’s oldest club has lost its last two Premier League games to Brentford and league leaders Arsenal. Fulham’s star striker Alexandar Mitrovic has only scored once since the turn of the year and has no goals to show for in FA Cup play.

But Fulham could still hope for an upset as United have been shaky (to say the least) since making it to the quarters with a 3-1 win over West Ham.

In an embarrassing display of football, the Red Devils fell 7-0 to rivals Liverpool only two weeks ago. They managed to bounce back with a 4-1 win in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 matchup against Spain’s Real Betis — and closed it out on Thursday with a 1-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals against Sevilla. But their last game in England was a scoreless draw to relegation candidates Southampton last weekend.

More bad news for United: They will be without star defensive midfielder Casemiro and winger Alejandro Guarnacho. Casemiro is starting a four-match suspension in all English competitions following a red card against Southampton.

Guarnacho, who had scored the 90th-minute winning goal against West Ham in the fifth round, was hurt by Kyle Walker-Peters’ slide tackle in the Southampton game. He will miss United’s Europa League second leg, the FA Cup match, and Argentina’s friendlies against Panama and Curacao.

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