Crystal Palace face Aston Villa on Saturday evening in the first of the two games, and Unai Emery's side will be hoping to reverse recent history.
That's because the Villans have won none of their last four matches against the Eagles in all competitions (D1 L3), and have conceded 13 goals in the process. Palace also knocked them out of the League Cup earlier this season.
To date, only Tottenham have eliminated them from both the FA and League Cups in the same campaign (1968/69).
Aston Villa have lost six of their last eight games at Wembley
Villa have also lost six of their last eight games at Wembley, with this their first visit since losing 2-1 to Manchester City in the 2020 League Cup final. Their two wins in this run came against Liverpool in the 2015 FA Cup semi-final and Derby County in the 2019 Championship play-off final (both 2-1).
The current hoodoo notwithstanding, Villa do have the edge over the south Londoners in the FA Cup.
The two teams have met three times in the competition and Palace have been eliminated each time, losing 5-0 in the third round in 1912/13, 4-3 in the third round in 1961/62 and 3-1 in a fifth round replay in 2009/10.
Furthermore, Unai Emery has progressed from each of the four single-legged semi-final cup ties he’s managed - all with Paris Saint-Germain in 2016/17 and 2017/18 (Coupe de la Ligue - 4-1 vs Bordeaux and 3-2 vs Rennes, and Coupe de France - 5-0 vs Monaco, 3-1 vs Caen).
In terms of FA Cup history, the Eagles have never held aloft the famous old trophy, losing the 1989/1990 and 2015/16 finals to Manchester United, whilst Villa have won the cup on seven occasions but the last time was way back in 1958/59.
Villa have also lost two finals since the millennium, against Chelsea in 1999/2000 and Arsenal in 2014/15, and have reached 11 FA Cup finals in total (only seven teams have featured in more).
Rashford the man to watch
This is Crystal Palace’s sixth FA Cup semi-final and they’ve alternated between going out at this stage (1976, 1995, 2022) and reaching the final (1990, 2016) in their previous five semi-finals.
They knocked Fulham out in this season’s quarter-final, but had been eliminated in eight of their previous 10 FA Cup ties against Premier League sides. In fact, they last knocked out more than one Premier League side in a season in 15/16.
There will be plenty of attacking talent on show from both sides, but one man to watch in the fixture will be Villa's Marcus Rashford, who has had a new lease of life at Villa Park.
In domestic cups this season he's had a hand in six goals (4 goals, 2 assists) for both Man Utd and Aston Villa, and since the start of 2016/17, he's been involved in 40 goals in 60 FA Cup and League Cup games (26 goals, 14 assists), more than any other Premier League player.
He is, however, yet to score or assist in an FA Cup semi-final in five attempts.
Forest looking to reach first FA Cup final since 1991
On Sunday, Nottingham Forest take on cup favourites Manchester City in the other semi-final.
Should the Tricky Trees overcome Pep Guardiola's swashbuckling side, they will play in their first FA Cup final since 1990/91 when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur.
That game was particularly remembered for Paul Gascoigne's awful challenge on Gary Charles which resulted in the former tearing his cruciate ligaments and having to leave the field on a stretcher, replaced by Nayim after just 17 minutes.
It's also actually the first time since beating West Ham 4-0 at Villa Park that same year that Forest will be in an FA Cup semi-final and Nuno Espirito Santo's side might well fancy their chances too.
Man City have lost four of their five FA Cup meetings with Forest (W1), most recently a 3-0 home loss in the third round in 2008/09, and the men from the City Ground have beaten already beaten City 1-0 in the Premier League this season, last beating them twice in the same campaign in 1989/90 (twice in the league and once in the Full Members Cup).
City are looking to make more football history, however.
It's their seventh consecutive appearance in an FA Cup semi-final, winning three and losing three of the previous six. They’ve won the last two, and are looking to reach the final in three consecutive years for the first time ever.
Given that they've already reached a League Cup final on three successive occasions too, they'd be the first team in English football history to complete such a feat.
Wembley has become Man City's second home
The venue has become something of a home from home for the Cityzens too as this will be their 28th appearance at the 'new' Wembley, whilst this is only the second time for Forest since the famous old ground was re-opened in 2007 (their one previous match was a 1-0 victory against Huddersfield in the 2022 Championship play-off final).
Don't be surprised if this one goes to penalties either, as Forest were involved in shoot-outs in the fourth round, fifth round and the quarter-final this season - the first team to have three shootouts in a single FA Cup campaign.
They also lost on penalties to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, though Chelsea in 2021/22 are currently the only top-flight team to be involved in five penalty shootouts in a single season.
The player to watch in this semi will undoubtedly be City's Kevin de Bruyne who will almost certainly have a say in how the match ends up.
The Belgian is playing in his last FA Cup campaign for City and perhaps ever, should he move to foreign shores for the final stages of his epic career.
Since his debut in the competition in January 2016, no player has been involved in more goals in the competition proper than any other player (28 – 10 goals, 18 assists).
Rumours of the demise of the world's oldest cup competition have been greatly exaggerated too because the FA Cup certainly hasn't lost any of its popularity both with clubs and their supporters.
By Sunday evening only two of the four teams left in the competition will still be standing. The question is which two....?
