2 April 2026. 152 Comments. 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 source, Getty Images. 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 source, Getty Images. 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
