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30 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MARCH 2019 SPORTS FA CUP JUST eight teams remain on the road to Wembley and with a host of big guns having fallen by the wayside there are a number of lesser lights in with a great shout now of making it to Wembley. That said, Manchester City and Unit- ed are still in the hunt and they're the two favourites to lift the FA Cup in May, and we could yet see an all-Man- chester final if the draw works out. Let's look at the major talking points for the FA Cup quarter-finals. City to continue quadruple hunt With the Carabao Cup already in the trophy cabinet, easy Champions League progression this week and sit- ting on top of the Premier League, Manchester City will now turn their at- tention to the next stage of their quad- ruple mission. They are certainly favourites to make it to the semi-final as they visit Swan- sea, but Pep Guardiola, whose best FA Cup achievement at City is the last four, will be wary after his side were embar- rassed at Wigan last season. Guardiola is unlikely to waver too much from his strongest team as he will not be ready to take any chances in south Wales. Any hope for the Championship challengers? Swansea and Millwall are flying the flag for the EFL in this year's competi- tion as the two Championship sides eye a semi-final berth. Swansea, then a Pre- mier League side, got to this stage last season before losing to Tottenham and their task is not any easier this year as they host Manchester City, so not too many people will be backing them to reach a first semi-final since 1964. Millwall, in a relegation battle, were in the last four as recently as 2013 and they have saved their best form for the FA Cup this year, memorably beating Everton in the earlier rounds. Their home clash with Brighton looks entire- ly winnable, so the 2004 finalists will fancy their chances of heading back to Wembley. Seagulls seeking rare semi Brighton have their eye on just their second ever FA Cup semi-final and first since 1983 when they went on to reach the final. It is their second quarter-final in two years, having also reached the last eight last season, and their task on paper at least looks easier than last year's. In 2018 they were beaten by Man- chester United whereas this year a trip to Championship Millwall beckons. Seagulls boss Chris Hughton has a spe- cial affiliation with the FA Cup, having been in the Tottenham side that won it back-to-back in 1981 and 1982 and he would love to lead his current club out at Wembley. Road warriors United face another tough away day If Manchester United get to the last four of the FA Cup then they will have had to do it the hard way. After see- ing off Reading in the third round they were handed consecutive away ties at Arsenal and Chelsea, which they passed with flying colours. That set up a visit to Wolves, who have enjoyed playing the big teams in the Premier League this season. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who won this com- petition twice with United as a play- er, will be eyeing this as a very good chance to mark his caretaker spell with a trip to the national stadium. Wolves, though, will be a tough test as they are eyeing a first semi-final since 1998. Revenge or repeat in Watford v Palace? Watford's clash with Crystal Palace is a repeat of the semi-final three years ago, which Palace won before going on to lose the final against Manchester United. Palace triumphed 2-1 on that day at Wembley, but the Hornets' superior league form - they won both games this season - and home advantage might make them favourites in just their fourth quarter-final in 31 years. The FA Cup returns and as we get ever closer to Wembley we look at the major talking points for the eight teams still involved over the weekend The FA CUP is back FIFA has approved a revised 24-team Club World Cup starting in 2021 despite top European clubs saying they would boycott the tourna- ment. The new competition is ex- pected to include eight teams from Europe. It will run every four years and take place from June to July in the slot currently used for the World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup. Fifa president Gianni Infan- tino said he was "extremely happy" after the Fifa Council backed his plan on Friday. "Now the world will see a re- al Club World Cup where fans will see the best teams in the world compete to be crowned the real world champions," he said. The Club World Cup is cur- rently held every December and features seven teams from six confederations, but the competition is largely ig- nored by European fans. As well as eight European clubs, the new tournament would see six teams from South America, three each from Africa, Asia and North and Central America and one from Oceania. It has been suggested each club could earn £50m from taking part. The European Club Asso- ciation (ECA) says any new competitions should be part of an agreed framework for the international match calendar post-2024. ECA board members, in- cluding Manchester United's chief executive Ed Woodward, signed a letter expressing con- cerns, which was revealed ear- lier on Friday. When asked if he was con- cerned about staging a new Club World Cup without any of Europe's elite clubs, Infan- tino said: "We hope that all the best teams will participate and we've had some very positive discussions with Uefa. "But it was our responsibility to take a decision because we have to deal with the organi- sational matters - it is only two years away." The Fifa Council also decided that it would be "feasible" to expand the Qatar 2022 World Cup from 32 to 48 teams. World football's governing body voted to expand the 2026 World Cup - which will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States - to 48 teams in 2017. The council will now discuss potential additional hosts to Qatar and a final decision will be made at a Fifa congress in Paris in June. "If it happens, fantastic. If it doesn't happen, fantastic also," said Infantino. Fifa proposes a new annual Club World Cup The ECA's letter was ad- dressed to Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, who has been asked to explain the posi- tion at the Fifa Council meet- ing, which is taking place in Miami. The letter, obtained by BBC Sport, stated that there should be no changes to the current fixed international match cal- endar (IMC), which runs un- til 2024, and raised concerns about fixture congestion. It said: "We wish to restate the position of ECA: (a) ECA is unwilling to consider any new or significantly revised competition prior to a ho- listic assessment of the IMC post-2024 being conducted and an agreement as to its underlying principles being reached; and (b) in any event, a Club World Cup in June 2021, as proposed by Fifa, is not acceptable in light of the existing competitions and the IMC, which is fixed until 2024." According to a Fifa document seen by Associated Press, it has been proposed the tourna- ment would run from 17 June to 4 July, with 2022 World Cup qualifiers (31 May to 8 June) preceding it and the African Cup of Nations and Concacaf Gold Cup possibly taking place from 5 July to 31 July. Fifa said it was aware of con- cerns of "serious interference with critical matches" but add- ed that members of its own task force "felt that it was feasible to play the Club World Cup" dur- ing that period. Fifa approves 24-team Club World Cup despite European boycott threat