1 day Ago By James Benge
The semifinals of the FA Cup are set and this season promises showpiece events that are a little different to usual. Admittedly frequent winners Manchester City are still in the mix but alongside them are three of the Premier League's middle class, the sort of sides for whom a trip down Wembley Way tends to mean the tension of a playoff final rather than the dreams of what might happen at the traditional end point of the English season. Crystal Palace were the first to earn their place in the hat for the semifinal draw, crushing Fulham on the road and setting the tone for a weekend where it was the away fans celebrating cup glory.
Nottingham Forest went all the way to a shootout to find a way past Brighton and Hove Albion. No such drama for Aston Villa on Sunday as they cruised past the last remaining Championship side in the competition, Preston North End beaten 3-0 at Deepdale. The best of the action came at the end, Manchester City's season seemingly on the brink at half time after Evanilson turned in for Bournemouth.
Pep Guardiola's side got a measure of revenge for a defeat earlier in the season that seemed to fling them into turbulence, an inspired display from substitute Nico O'Reilly swinging the contest. First, he rolled a precise cross in for Erling Haaland to score before providing the winner for Omar Marmoush. Semifinal draw Crystal Palace vs.
Aston Villa Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City Ties will be played on the weekend of April 26 and 27. Crystal Palace Best finish: Runners-up (1990, 2016) -- On the bright side for Palace, Manchester United are not in the last four with them.
The Red Devils have ruined the Eagles' two pilgrimages from south London to north. Depending on your definition of the Full Members' Cup, a competition for English clubs when they were banned from Europe, Palace are still yet to add a major cup to their trophy cabinet How they got here: Saturday morning was the Eberechi Eze show, the England international at his remorseless best in a 3-0 win at Fulham. Eze netted the first and laid on another for Ismaila Sarr four minutes later, a stirring fightback after finding themselves under the cosh in the early exchanges at Craven Cottage.
Eddie Nketiah added a third with a quarter hour left to play, a streak of five 2-0 wins on the road broken in style. Fulham were the first Premier League opponent Palace have beaten in this season's FA Cup after comfortable wins against Stockport, Doncaster and Millwall. Chances of winning it: There might be no more in-form team left in the field than Palace, winners of their last five in all competitions and with a record of 10 wins, a draw and two losses in 2025.
As recently as last month, they smashed Villa at Selhurst Park, Eze sensational in a match where Oliver Glasner's side put up 4.31 expected goals. Aston Villa Best finish: Winners (1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920, 1957) -- One of the grand old clubs of English football, but few at Wembley over the coming months will have seen Villa lift the FA Cup.
Indeed, there have been precious few visits to the final for a club of Villa's size and history. Since their last win, they have been to the final only twice, losing to Chelsea in 2000 and Arsenal 15 years later. How they got here: In a grueling season, Villa have navigated their way to the semifinals in impressive fashion.
West Ham and Tottenham were both beaten 2-1 at Villa Park, Morgan Rogers netting in both ties. Cardiff were then brushed aside in the round of 16, Marco Asensio at the double. It was another January loanee who lit up the sixth round, Marcus Rashford netting his first goal on loan from Manchester United and then another from the spot.
Jacob Ramsey got the third in the most regulation of wins. Chances of winning it: Those names above, all vying for spots in Unai Emery's frontline with a few others, speak to the impressive depth available to Villa. This is a squad that, in the right places really has the depth to compete on multiple fronts, something of a blessing because they have needed that in a Champions League campaign that has taken them to the quarterfinals.
Come their trip to Wembley, they will have gone through both legs of that as well as a battle for a top-five berth with Newcastle. Will a week's rest be enough for a squad that occasionally looks leggy, no matter the rotation? 3. Nottingham Forest Best finish: Winners (1898, 1959) -- Like Villa, this is not a competition where there is much recent glory for Forest.
Indeed, for many, this club's relationship with the competition is rather defined by its status as the one that got away for Brian Clough, beaten by Tottenham in the 1991 final. Whatever the result in the semifinal, this season will be the furthest Forest have gone in the competition since. How they got here: It has been a run of high drama for Nuno Espirito Santo's men, albeit one that began in fairly orthodox fashion with a 2-0 win over Luton.
Since then, every game has gone the whole way, League One Exeter City hauling their Premier League opposition right the way to penalties, where Matz Sels was the hero. Same again in the next two rounds as Ipswich and then Brighton fell from 12 yards out. Chances of winning it: Discounting Nottingham Forest is a risky move after they upset so many en route to third place in the Premier League.
Their most cautious, defensive and counter style is quite well-suited to cup football. In this season's FA Cup, they have been parsimonious in the extreme, holding every opponent bar Exeter to under 0.9 xG across two hours of football.
Equally, this team has had the same sort of underlying metrics during their cup run that they have had in the Premier League this season: an ever so slightly above average xG difference that hardly screams Champions League qualifier or FA Cup winner. They can't keep upsetting the odds forever, can they? 4. Manchester City Best finish: Winners (1904.
1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019, 2023) -- Victory for Pep Guardiola's side in May would draw them level with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham as the third most successful side in FA Cup history, one of the clearest indications of the big six around. City have reached the semifinals in each of the last seven years, reaching three finals, winning one and losing to Manchester United last year. How they got here: It had been relatively smooth sailing through a favorable draw for the 2023 winners, Salford City smashed 8-0 in the third round before a dramatic fourth round tie at Leyton Orient.
In the teeth of their struggles, they slipped into a first-half deficit only for Kevin De Bruyne to change the tie. Plymouth Argyle were then beaten before an impressive comeback win at Dean Court. Chances of winning it: The strong favorites, playing at their peak level, there is no one in the field who could beat City.
Then again, throughout this season, they have looked some way short of their peak, a side that can be undone by the counterattacking approach that Forest, Palace and Villa are all perfectly prepared to deploy given the occasion. Still, they seem the likeliest side to be cutting a jubilant path up to Wembley's Royal Box later in the spring. If anyone else were to beat them to the title, it could well be a quite special FA Cup story.
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