Liverpool Football Club are no strangers to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. They've reached them on 23 separate occasions, winning 15 and going on to win the competition seven times.
But their last FA Cup triumph has not come since a 2005-06 Steven Gerrard-inspired comeback against West Ham United in Cardiff, and so Liverpool fans are baying for more silverware - their last having been the League Cup in 2012.
Brendan Rodgers finds himself with the opportunity to make the 2014-15 season a memorable one by winning the club's eight FA Cup, but first he must guide the Reds past a tricky tie against Tim Sherwood at Wembley Stadium.
With the crunch clash against Villa rapidly closing in, here are five previous semi-final wins that the club will never forget.
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa, 1914 - White Hart Lane.
Rather surprisingly, it took until 1965 for Liverpool to win the FA Cup - but they reached the final for the first time 41 years before that. Taking on reigning champions Aston Villa who had already won the competition five times, the Reds were expected to fail as miserably as they had in 1897 - when Villa won 3-0 in a semi-final meeting. But at White Hart Lane, Tom Watson's Liverpool had taken exception to the London Press' decision to virtually award the Midlands side a place in the final before the game had begun - and set his side out on a mission to prove their worth. Having aggressively drilled his instructions to the team through a pre-match team meeting, his side were to prove suprise winners thanks to a double from Jimmy Nicholl - though their first outing in the final was to be less successful.
Liverpool 2-0 Southampton, 1986 - White Hart Lane.
Ian Rush was the man of the hour yet again for Liverpool as they set up a mouthwatering final clash with Division One champions Everton after his extra-time double. The Reds had lost their previous three semi-finals in the competition, and looked set to perhaps do so for a fourth time after an unexciting 90 minutes. Southampton defended well and quelled the threats of Liverpool's stars, frustrating them to an extra half-an-hour. They had lost Mark Wright, who would go on to captain the Reds to an FA Cup in future years, to a borken leg after a coming together with Bruce Grobbelaar but held out well. Yet with Rush up-front, the Reds needed little opportunity to punish them when the chance came. The Welshman did exactly that nine minutes into extra-time after the Saints grew tired. Jan Molby's ball found its way into the area, beating Kevin Bond - and Rush was there to beat Peter Shilton with a header. It took him just five minutes more to seal the victory after Steve Nicol sped down the flank and picked out the clinical forward, who drilled past Shilton to set up an all-Merseyside final.
Liverpool 3-1 Nottingham Forest, 1989 - Old Trafford.
The 15th of April 1989 needs little explanation for anyone connected with Merseyside. What was supposed to be a fantastic semi-final meeting between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was horribly marred by the disaster that was to occur in the stands. But the Reds, despite grieving from the loss of 94 (the final death toll was 96) fans in the Leppings Lane End - insisted on playing on. The two teams replayed their game at the home of Manchester United just three weeks ago and they got off to a great start when John Aldridge gifted the Reds the lead inside three minutes. Neil Webb pulled Brian Clough's side level after 33 minutes, but the Reds rallied again and Aldridge grabbed a second before Brian Laws' own-goal sealed Forest's fate - Kenny Dalglish's side would make it to Wembley to set up an emotional FA Cup final meeting with neighbours Everton, a day which commended everything positive about Merseyside as the Reds ran out 3-2 winners on a day that will never, ever be forgotten.
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea, 2006 - Old Trafford.
Liverpool had already beaten Jose Mourinho's Chelsea to reach the final of a major cup competition the season prior, so when the two came head-to-head once again in the FA Cup semi-finals of 2006 - the tie was bound to be mouthwatering. Rafael Benitez' Reds ended the Blues' dreams of a domestic double as John Arne Riise powered a free-kick through the wall after Didier Drogba had uncharacteristically wasted a number of good opportunities. Luis Garcia, scourge of Chelsea in the Champions League semis the season before, popped up again to break blue hearts by sending a dipping half-volley past Petr Cech and into the bottom corner from 20-yards. Drogba did eventually get on the scoresheet, cutting the lead to just a single goal after he headed in following Riise's and Pepe Reina's defensive errors, but Arjen Robben and Joe Cole could not take advantage of late chances. The Reds consequently booked their place in what would turn out to be one of the most thrilling FA Cup finals of all time, a 3-3 thriller - which Benitez' men would edge out on penalties thanks to Reina's heroics.
Liverpool 2-1 Everton, 2012 - Wembley Stadium.
Andy Carroll's late header gave Kenny Dalglish's side a third trip to Wembley in one season after beating rivals Everton. 23 years since the Reds and Toffees had last met down Wembley Way, it was David Moyes' side who took the early advantage. Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger's mix-up led to the former's attempted clearance deflecting off of Nikica Jelavic and putting him through on goal and he did not hesitate to slow low past third-choice goalkeeper Brad Jones, with Pepe Reina and Doni both suspended. But with Everton looking comfortable, Sylvain Distin returned the favour on the hour mark after his backpass allowed Luis Suarez to go through on goal, and the Uruguayan found the bottom corner. In the closing minutes, the Reds were well on top and after Seamus Coleman brought down Steven Gerrard near the byline down the left side, Craig Bellamy swung a perfect delivery into the box - which Carroll was all too happy to flick goalwards past Tim Howard and into the back of the net to send 40,000 Reds into sheer delirium.