Man City fans face travel nightmare for FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool FC

Manchester City fans are facing a travel nightmare for next month's FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

A thumping 4-1 win over Southampton on Sunday, followed by Liverpool's more nervy 1-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest, has set up an intriguing showdown between the two Premier League title rivals at Wembley in three weeks' time. London-based pair Chelsea and Crystal Palace face off in the other tie.

The dates and kick-off times of each game are yet to be confirmed, but fans looking to make the trip to the home of English football are already at the mercy of train line closures. There are no direct trains between either Manchester and Liverpool and London.

READ MORE:Extortionate train fares and ridiculous kick-off times - following Man City has never been harder

Engineering works at various locations between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central stations mean that all interconnecting lines are closed, including the Avanti West Coast line between Manchester Piccadilly and Euston. Trains from Piccadilly will terminate at Milton Keynes and run via Stoke-on-Trent. Liverpool supporters will face a similar problem, with Avanti West Coast services from Liverpool Lime Street terminating at Rugby.

As a result, a journey that would ordinarily take less than two hours and 15 minutes is now estimated to take at least an hour more and up to four hours in total. Prices may also prove more costly due to the increased number of train changes involved.

The Saturday semi-final has in recent years been held at 5.30pm, with the Sunday kick-off around the same time. A quick look on website Trainline shows that the quickest train journey to get fans from Manchester to London on Saturday, April 16, show options going via Sheffield or