Palace, Forest and Villa will all believe they have the firepower to prevent City from winning the cup for the second time in three years.
City’s last trophyless season came at the end of the first year of Guardiola’s tenure in 2016-17.
And in Forest they face a club six points above them in the league and who have won four of their five previous meetings in the FA Cup, dating back to 1902.
“Pep has always taken the domestic competitions seriously and it’s a great record he’s got,” said former Manchester United captain Roy Keane on ITV.
“The two semi-finals are hard to call. They’re two really good games.
“Nottingham Forest are going along nicely. They’ve had some good breaks with the penalty shootouts but they’re more than capable of sitting in and beating City.”
Palace have been eliminated by Villa in all three FA Cup campaigns in which they have met.
As well as a trip to Wembley, Unai Emery’s Villa are also gearing up to face Paris St-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals and are still in contention for a top-four finish in the league.
Emery said: “We can take two objectives through the FA Cup – to get a trophy and play in Europe. In a case like that, it’s fantastic.
“To be consistent in Premier League is really the [main] objective we have but being like we are now, in the FA Cup, we have to enjoy with the supporters because this competition means a lot for them.”
But Palace will be no easy task for Villa, with only Liverpool in better form than the Eagles over their past 10 league matches.
Boss Oliver Glasner said: “I think it’s something special that the two semi-finals are played in the same stadium as the final and this is something very English. I really like it and we will be ready in four weeks to win this game.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former Middlesbrough and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, added: “This is what the FA Cup is about – being able to dream.
“[It is a chance for] clubs who may not necessarily think they have a chance to win the FA Cup but are now in a great position to rewrite history.”
