Man City could be without 3 players for FA Cup tie vs Liverpool

Having won the Carabao Cup, Pep Guardiola is looking to add another domestic trophy to his haul, but Manchester City's 'biggest rival' lies in wait in the FA Cup lying in wait at the quarter-final stage

Manchester City team news ahead of the FA Cup tie against Liverpool(Image: 2026 James Gill - Danehouse)

Manchester City could be without three defenders for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Liverpool.

The sides meet at the Etihad in their first match since the resumption of club soccer following the March international break. City heads into the game on the back of a Carabao Cup triumph, while Liverpool’s hopes of collecting silverware this season would be severely damaged by defeat on this weekend.

Arne Slot delivered a mixed injury outlook during Friday’s press conference, but with pressing questions surrounding Rodri and Phil Foden, Pep Guardiola did not provide a team news update in his media briefing at the Etihad Campus.

That means the fitness of John Stones and Ruben Dias remain uncertain. Neither featured over the international break, with Dias sustaining a hamstring injury two weeks ago that forced him to miss the Carabao Cup final.

As for Stones, his injury-plagued season suffered another setback this week, with the 31-year-old forced to withdraw from the England squad due to a calf injury.

“It's not ideal. Not ideal for John, and not ideal for us,” Thomas Tuchel explained.

“John was gutted that he had this minor incident again, which was not a big injury, but minor. Given the history, we had to be careful. It made no sense to push him through and make things even worse.”

Stones has struggled with injuries this season(Image: 2025 James Gill - Danehouse)

It means the only confirmed injury absentee is Josko Gvardiola. The former RB Leipzig man suffered a broken tibia in January and has not featured since, although recent reports have suggested he could step up his recovery work soon.

Should all three center-backs miss out on the quarter-final, Guardiola will likely start with Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi against Liverpool, with Nathan Ake an alternative option.

Speaking about the challenge Liverpool will pose this weekend, Guardiola said: “I have said many times, it has been the biggest rival.

Guardiola described Liverpool as "his biggest rival"(Image: Molly Darlington/Copa, Getty Images)

“It’s a team that made an incredible investment last season to be there for many, many years.

“It’s in the Champions League. It’s a top contender with top-class players all of them and hopefully we perform the level like we did against Arsenal to make the next step.”

As for Liverpool, Slot confirmed Alisson will miss the trip to Manchester, but Mohamed Salah, Federico Chiesa and Jeremie Frimpong are fit once again.

Alexander Isak may be available to play a “few minutes” off the bench, the Dutchman revealed, while Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo will miss out with long-term injuries.