Sutton's FA Cup predictions v boxer Richard Riakporhe

Manchester City lifted the Carabao Cup before the international break, but can they book a swift return to Wembley by beating Liverpool in their FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday?

"This has been a far-from-perfect season for City, and all the speculation about Pep Guardiola's future probably doesn't help, but they could still finish it with two cups," said BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton.

"Some of their fans would probably still be disappointed with that, but they shouldn't be."

Sutton's guest for this weekend's four quarter-final ties is boxer and Crystal Palace fan Richard Riakporhe.

Riakporhe is challenging Jeamie 'TKV' Tshikeva for the British heavyweight title on Saturday, 11 April at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They meet on the undercard of Tyson Fury's comeback fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov and the event is being shown live on Netflix.

"I've been talking and watching so much boxing for the past couple of months," Riakporhe said. "So it's nice to talk about football again now."

Do you agree with their scores? You can see what AI thinks and choose your winner from each tie, below.

Image caption,

Palace fan Riakporhe boxed at Selhurst Park in June 2024, challenging for the WBO cruiserweight title against Chris Billam-Smith. He lost on points.

Riakporhe, 36, only started boxing aged 19 and says football was his "first love" when he was growing up in south-east London.

"When I was younger, there were a few years where my brother and I used to play every single day," he told BBC Sport.

"Our dream was to play for Palace and nothing else mattered. Eventually we joined a local team called Meryl Rovers - you might remember Jason Euell, who used to play for Wimbledon and Charlton? Well it was run by his mum.

"I was a striker, and I was really fast - I was like Emmanuel Adebayor, where you could give me the ball and I'd put it in the back of the net.

"A few boys who played for Meryl Rovers went on to become professionals, but not me. I couldn't keep it up because I hated the cold - when it got to the winter I'd say I wasn't coming out. Instead I'd stay inside and play on my computer.

"I can't play much football any more because all the changes of direction you have to do affects your movement in the ring, but I do like to play a bit of footvolley - like volleyball, but with a football.

"Sometimes I go to Brazil and when you watch men or women play over there, the skill they have is unbelievable. At first you wonder how they can do it, but it's actually pretty simple - if you keep on practising, you get it."

Image caption,

Richard Riakporhe reacts after beating Kevin Nicolas Espindola on the Fatal Fury City of Wolves card at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in May 2025

As an Eagles fan, Riakporhe has seen both sides of the FA Cup in the past 12 months - from beating Manchester City in last year's final to going out against non-league Macclesfield in this year's third round.

"Wembley was incredible. I was there and right from the start I did feel it was going to be our day," he explained.

"I went with my friend's son, who is a City fan, and I told him before kick-off to give me a hug, so I could give him my condolences for their defeat now.

"Winning the FA Cup was a great moment for everyone and I don't think any Palace fan will ever forget it.

"Losing to Macclesfield was obviously a very different feeling but you realise that's football, and it can happen to anyone.

"I was talking to someone the other day about Manchester United losing to Grimsby [in this season's Carabao Cup] and when an upset like that happens to another team it's very funny. It's a great laugh, unless it happens to you!"

Chris Sutton and Richard Riakporhe were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat - we asked the tool to predict the score of each tie.

FA Cup quarter-final predictions

There are no replays. Games will be decided by extra time and penalties.

Gap = the number of league places between the two teams

Saturday, 4 April

• Etihad Stadium, 12:45 BST
• 2nd in Premier League v 5th in Premier League
• Gap = 3

It seems a section of Liverpool fans are not convinced by Arne Slot, and the Reds' poor Premier League form before the international break has put him under more pressure.

Liverpool have taken one point from their past three games and their last performance, in an away defeat at Brighton, was really insipid.

I still think it would be extremely harsh if they end up parting ways after the guy won them the title in his first year in the job but this feels like a huge week or two for Slot, and for Liverpool's whole campaign, with the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris St-Germain to come in France on Wednesday.

Right now, Liverpool are miles off the team they were last season and beating City probably feels more achievable than getting past PSG.

I'm not convinced they will do it though, and if they end up going out of both competitions in the space of 10 days then the Liverpool fans are going to be even more disgruntled.

City are already out of Europe, and it will be hard, but not impossible, for them to win the Premier League from here, but Pep has already landed the Carabao Cup and he always takes the FA Cup seriously anyway.

They are looking to extend their own record by reaching the semi-final for the eighth successive season and, if they get to the final, they will be the first team to make it to four in a row.

City could really do with getting Erling Haaland firing again, while this is Liverpool's first game since Mohamed Salah announced he will be leaving at the end of the season.

There are so many different ways to look at this tie, and who might step up to win it for either team, but City are at home and they have also beaten Liverpool twice already this season in the league. I just have a feeling they will take this one as well.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Richard's prediction: City are going to win this in 90 minutes. They are just lucky they don't have to face Palace in the cup again, although we do still have to play them for their game in hand in the league. 2-1

AI's prediction: 2-1

• Stamford Bridge, 17:15 GMT
• 6th in Premier League v 24th in League One
• Gap = 62

If Liverpool's tie against Manchester City is important for Slot, then this game is even bigger for Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior.

Ever since he was appointed in January, there has always been an element of Chelsea fans who don't think Rosenior is the right man to take them forward - but losing their past four games in a row in all competitions has certainly not helped his cause.

Yes, you can say they have been beaten by European champions PSG in two of those matches, but I still expected them to get a result at home to Newcastle and then Everton absolutely blew them away.

If Rosenior loses this tie too, then the alarm bells would really be ringing at Stamford Bridge. It is a game where he cannot afford to slip up, but I also feel like he needs a performance to go with the win everyone is expecting.

Wycombe beat Port Vale 4-0 on Saturday so Chelsea surely have to at least match that scoreline before they focus on the league again, with two more crucial home games coming up against Manchester City and Manchester United.

Vale are toiling at the bottom of League One and so far on this cup run I have wrongly predicted they will lose to Fleetwood, Bristol City and Sunderland.

The good news for Vale fans and their manager Jon Brady is that I am going to predict they will lose this time too.

Their aim will be to stay in the game as long as they can and try to nick a goal, but the circumstances mean Rosenior will probably pick a strong team and Chelsea will have too much quality for them.

Sutton's prediction: 4-0

Richard's prediction: Port Vale have done so well to get here. I wouldn't say it's impossible for them to win at Stamford Bridge, but it's very unlikely they will get through. 3-0

AI's prediction: 3-0

• St Mary's Stadium, 20:00 GMT
• 6th in Championship v 1st in Premier League
• Gap = 25

Southampton are going really well in the Championship and are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions, although I have got to say Norwich played them off the park despite losing 1-0 in March.

Saints got very lucky in that game and they are going to need an element of luck here too - although I am not sure Arsenal will have enough fit players to put out a team because of the injury crisis that affected them during the international break.

The Gunners have got a Champions League tie on the horizon too - they play Sporting on Tuesday - but the most important thing for Mikel Arteta's side is that they get back on track after losing the Carabao Cup final last time out.

Arsenal were second best in the second half at Wembley and although Arteta might save a few players for the trip to Portugal, he has to take this tie seriously and find a way to win. If they lose it, people are going to start talking about Arsenal's bottle again.

St Mary's Stadium has sold out and Saints are looking to mark the 50th anniversary of their famous FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United by heading back to Wembley for the semi-finals.

I don't see them making it, however. Instead I am going for the same scoreline we saw when these sides met in the 2003 final, and Arsenal came out on top.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

Richard's prediction: Southampton are in great form but knocking out Arsenal is a big ask. Arsenal's defence is on point, so I don't even think they will concede. 0-2

AI's prediction: 1-3

Sunday, 5 April

• London Stadium, 16:30 GMT
• 18th in Premier League v 15th in Premier League
• Gap = 3

The most intriguing thing about this tie is how both teams are going to approach it.

They are both in the thick of the relegation battle at the bottom of the table and will surely have at least one eye on that, rather than being fully focused on the FA Cup.

Leeds don't play in the league until the following Monday, when they go to Old Trafford, but West Ham are back in action on Friday, at home to bottom side Wolves.

Out of the two games, Wolves is surely the one that Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo will prioritise, because it has to be seen as 'must win' for them - but you could argue Leeds manager Daniel Farke will do the same before his side play Manchester United too.

The one thing both teams definitely don't want here is extra time, and what usually happens in that scenario is that the tie goes the distance.

So, that's what I am going to say we will see here, too. You won't be able to split the teams over 90 minutes, but then Leeds will be the ones who find a winner.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2 after extra time.

Richard's prediction: This is a tough game to call, the hardest tie to predict. I can see there being a lot of goals. It is going to be 3-2 to someone, but I am not sure who. West Ham to win it late on... no, actually, I am going to go for Leeds. 2-3

AI's prediction: 2-2 after extra time, West Ham win on penalties.