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Can Pep extend City's own record by reaching a seventh consecutive FA Cup semi-final?

Seven great matches to take you from Friday to Sunday. It’s the Sound of Football Weekend Boxset.

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All times are UK

Friday

Championship: Sheffield United v Coventry City

20.00 on ITV4, ITVX and Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Your football weekend kicks off at Bramall Lane where second placed Sheffield United take on Frank Lampard’s Coventry who sit fifth. A win tonight for Chris Wilder’s men would see them go top, piling the pressure on both (dirty) Leeds United and Burnley in the race for automatic promotion. Indeed, had they not been deducted two-points at the start of the campaign for financial naughtiness, they’d already be leading the Championship. While it may come into play at the end of the season, as things stand, the Blades are in control of their own destiny. Their run-in has a few tough ones, but nothing a side with United’s ability shouldn’t be able to overcome. That said, their sole defeat in their last nine outings came at home to (dirty) Leeds, and while results have been positive, they have narrowed somewhat with a score-draw at home to Bristol City and a 1-0 win in the Steel City derby. Coventry come into this with a win under their belt which was anything but narrow. They put three past a sorry Sunderland side just before the international break, which book-ended a stellar run starting when Frank took over at the end of November when the side sat seventeenth. Forty-two points in twenty-one games has catapulted Coventry into the play-off positions with a momentum that will give Chris Wilder’s men real concerns. It is good to see Frank doing well. One of the finest players of his generation, he initially impressed in his first coaching role at Derby, but was thrust into the Chelsea hot-seat when nobody else would take it. You could also argue he joined Everton at the shitty end of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership and was on the back foot from day one. Either way, he deserves credit for the miraculous job he’s done at Coventry. We could be in for a decent match tonight - maybe a 2-2. JB

Saturday

A-League: Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

08.35 on TNT Sports 6
The Original Rivalry is not a fixture that anyone would have predicted having major implications for both sides’ seasons just a month ago. Adelaide looked like second place was theirs to lose, while Victory were in freefall from the top six. But somehow, the Victorians stabilised while Adelaide can’t buy a win for love nor money, nor clean sheets. The Reds have had some particularly bonkers results of late, including a 4-4 draw against leaders Auckland and a 4-5 home loss to Macarthur. Scoring goals isn’t a problem for Carl Veart’s team, but ever since conceding four on the road to Sydney, the floodgates have opened and every side now views Adelaide as three points up for grabs. With Sydney, Macarthur and evenly a lately resurgent Newcastle all eyeing up finals spots, every point counts at this stage of the season. Melbourne Victory, meanwhile, are back to full strength and have a goalscoring Socceroo in Nishan Vilupillay in sparkling form. Arthur Diles may have a pretty shoddy win percentage during his limited stint in the dugout for Victory but he does have a side who can dig in when all seems lost. There’s a touch of chaos that doesn’t feel too far away from this fixture, and if Adelaide are in the mood to view defending as optional, this could be another helter-skelter goalfest. Purists will be appalled but if you want entertainment, there will be plenty to be found at AAMI Park. GA

FA Cup quarter-final: Fulham v Crystal Palace

12.15 on ITV1, STV and ITVX
A season defining fixture for both clubs. Fulham’s season may have gone a little better than for Palace and Marco Silva’s compact team may yet find a path to European football through the league. However, like their south London neighbours the Cottagers are, at best, a mid-table Premier League team for whom genuine success has been elusive. So, winning the FA Cup would be a defining moment in their histories and makes this a game in which to place all eggs. The Palace defence will be keeping a close eye on Raúl Jiménez. The Mexican striker returns from the international break after a successful CONCACAF Nations League campaign, scoring two goals against Canada and another brace in the final against Panama to lift the trophy. Palace have not played as a team since 8 March and spent some time together in a training camp in Spain before the break. Coach Oliver Glasner had the luxury of the additional preparation for this tie. Returning from a successful international break is Eberechi Eze who became the first Palace player to score for England since Peter Taylor in 1976. Also likely to play a part is Jean-Philippe Mateta after being stretchered off to hospital in the last round after being kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts. If the French striker has retained his goal scoring zeal, then he could be a thorn in the Fulham side. TD

FA Cup quarter-final: Brighton & Hove Albion v Nottingham Forest

17.15 on BBC One & iPlayerThe statistics will probably tell you that the axiom “the formbook goes out the window in the Cup” is almost certainly more based in heuristics rather than concrete evidence. I’m sure Brighton fans will prefer mulling over that rather than thinking about the elephant in the room which is last month’s 7-0 league defeat to Forest at the City Ground. That result certainly had the effect of waking the Seagulls up: unbeaten in seven, becoming the form side in the Premier League and getting past top six opposition in two rounds of the Cup. Forest have the distinction of having the highest league position of the clubs remaining in the competition but had a mini-slump after that result, taking just one point from three games, bookended by squeezing through the fourth and fifth rounds of the Cup on penalties to Exeter and Ipswich. It could take another shootout to give Forest their first semi-final appearance since Brian Clough was in charge. GS

Sunday

FA Cup quarter-final: Preston North End v Aston Villa

13.30 on BBC One & iPlayer
If the merest thought of VAR makes your blood boil then this is the tie for you; the only one in the round that won’t be using technology. It’s also the only tie in the round between former winners of the competition, though you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who was there to see them lift their trophies. For Villa it’s been 68 years since they last won the Cup, and it’s 87 years for Preston. On league placing alone you’d have to say this is probably the easiest tie of the round to call: Villa have progressed to the Champions League quarter finals while Preston are sat in the middle of the Championship, one of only a very small number of sides who are effectively safe from the drop but without realistic play-off ambitions. Despite that, this could be a lot closer, even without a sprinkling of Cup magic. Paul Heckingbottom’s side haven’t lost a game at Deepdale since the start of November and comfortably beat the usually defensively unbreakable Burnley in the last round. GS

FA Cup quarter-final: Bournemouth v Manchester City

16.30 on ITV1, STV and ITVX
Here’s a piece of trivia for you; away from Wembley, City have lost just one FA Cup tie since Pep took charge of the club in 2016. Will Griggs’ winner for Wigan at the JD Sports in the fifth round back in 2018 is the only time Pep’s tasted an arch-less defeat in the competition. But this season has been one where a lot of things that rarely if ever happen to City have been happening. The run of poor results started right here at the Vitality Stadium with a 2-1 defeat at the beginning of November (no Tottenham fans, knocking City out of the EFL Cup a few days earlier doesn’t count; not for my narrative anyway). While it’s been a season to quickly forget for City fans, it’s been one of promise for Bournemouth. On the cusp of their first European qualification, they will make their first ever appearance in an FA Cup semi-final with a win here. Pep has taken City to Wembley 20 (TWENTY) times, but Bournemouth have only ever played at the home of football once, the old one, in the 1998 League Trophy final. They could easily be going twice more in the next few weeks. GS

Serie A: Napoli v Milan

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 & OneFootball
Antonio Conte will be hoping the international break will have given his Napoli side a bit of a reset in their title bid. They are just three points short of leaders Inter but with just one win in their last seven games they have clearly lost their momentum. For Milan the title race is just something happening to other people. A new manager bounce under Sergio Conceicao has failed to materialise, and he is unlikely to be in post next season. In the past few days it’s emerged that the name at the top of list to replace him is none other than Antonio Conte. As it is, the Rossoneri will surely have one eye on their big game coming up in midweek - the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter - which you’d have to say, on current form, is Milan’s best hope of European football next season. GS


Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary