And then there were four… The FA Cup quarter-finals are in the books and we now know who will face off at Wembley in a bid to return there for the final.
Here’s our round-up of the key takeaways from the weekend’s action in the last eight:
Southampton 2-1 Arsenal
Just over a fortnight ago, Arsenal were on course for a quadruple; now, the best they can hope for is a Premier League and Champions League double.
And even one of those trophies would constitute the Gunners’ best season in more than two decades – as much as anything, their EFL Cup final defeat and FA Cup exit show that the concept of the quadruple is just that: a concept – a possibility but, given the sheer staying power required to actually pull it off, probably never a reality for any team.
Going out of the FA Cup to a side in the division below is far from ideal, of course, but Saturday night’s 2-1 defeat to Southampton was disappointing rather than ignominious. Missing no fewer than seven first-team players through injury, Mikel Arteta made more changes than he might have liked to – and seeing Gabriel hobble off midway through the second half only amplified the Arsenal boss’ selection headache, leaving the Gunners with an altogether downgraded back four of Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, William Saliba and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
That’s not to say the Premier League leaders shouldn’t have had the quality to see off the Championship play-off hopefuls – with the likes of Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli starting the game, they certainly should have – or that it was anything but a sub-par performance – Arsenal didn’t pose nearly enough threat – but these results do happen and they’re by no means terminal by default.
Nevertheless, Arteta’s men will need to send out a strong message of defiance in their upcoming games: they face Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-finals either side of a home league clash with Bournemouth – before a potentially season-defining trip to title rivals Manchester City. It’s crunch time.
Southampton, meanwhile, are the third second-tier FA Cup semi-finalists this decade, after Sheffield United in 2023 and Coventry City in 2024.
Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool
While Arsenal still had treble ambitions, Liverpool’s chances of ending the season with silverware hinged on two competitions – and with holders PSG next up in the Champions League, the FA Cup felt like the Reds’ best trophy opportunity.
This was a limp way for them to leave themselves staring at, barring a remarkable recovery of form against PSG, a first trophyless campaign since 2022/23. Dominik Szoboszlai delivered a damning verdict on his side’s display at full-time, saying: “The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough; the mentality wasn’t there enough.”
Liverpool fans could be heard chanting for club legend Xabi Alonso to replace Arne Slot as they left the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Without the necessary fighting spirit and mentality, the Reds could find themselves without Champions League football next term – and Slot himself out of a job.
As for Man City, their biggest victory over Premier League opposition since thrashing Burnley 5-1 in September could just reignite the title charge Pep Guardiola had seemingly conceded was over: beat Chelsea away next time out and they’ll have the chance to close the gap at the top to six points at most (with a game in hand) when they host Arsenal on 19 April.
Chelsea 7-0 Port Vale
After a run of four straight defeats which included exiting the Champions League 8-2 on aggregate to PSG, Chelsea really had to beat Port Vale convincingly – and Liam Rosenior couldn’t have asked for much more from his team.
Yes, the team sixth in the Premier League really ought to be dispatching the side propping up League One – but there was a lot to be said for the manner of the Blues’ victory, the biggest in an FA Cup quarter-final since Liverpool’s 7-0 thrashing of Birmingham City 20 years ago.
The challenge for Chelsea now is to take that momentum into the run-in – beginning with a testing home double-header against Manchester City then Manchester United – as they push for Champions League qualification, which is very much still on the cards as England looks set to claim five places for next season’s competition.
West Ham 2-2 Leeds (AET) (2-4 on Penalties)
Each of the other three sides in the draw have reached at least two FA Cup semi-finals in the last decade – Man City and Chelsea have lifted the Cup in that time – but not Leeds, who are into the last four for the first time in 39 years.
They did it the hard way, blowing a 2-0 lead in stoppage time before eventually advancing via a shootout – and still have work to do if they’re to maintain their top-flight status, but Daniel Farke could yet guide the Whites to their most memorable season since 2000/01 – when Leeds finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the Champions League semi-finals.
The next challenge for the 1972 FA Cup winners is to make it to their first final since 1973 – and they’ll do it the hard way if they have to: that’s now twice they’ve won on penalties in this season’s competition.
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The draw for the FA Cup semi-finals is as follows:
Chelsea vs Leeds Man City vs Southampton
The ties will be played at Wembley on the weekend of 25-26 April.
