Scout Notes – FA Cup – Saturday

Liverpool crash and burn, Chelsea cruise and Arsenal destroy a hungover Southampton on a dramatic day of FA Cup fourth round action.

All the Premier League sides avoid shock exits, although Spurs give it a good go and an injury worry for a key defender takes some of the shine off Middlesbrough’s win.

In addition, in terms of likely Gameweek 28 blanks, we started Saturday with only two guaranteed fixtures and ended the day in exactly the same position.

So far, the fixtures between Bournemouth and West Ham, as well as Everton versus West Brom, remain the only assured matches unaffected by the FA Cup Quarter-finals.

Only defeats for Manchester United and Hull City can unlock further fixtures as a result of today’s ties.

As a side note, the draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup takes place on Monday January 30 at 7.20pm.

Derby County 2 Leicester City 2

Wes Morgan’s late header from a Demarai Gray corner earned Leicester City a deserved draw in an entertaining FA Cup tie at East Midlands rivals Derby.

Morgan’s equaliser was his first strike since a Gameweek 3 win over Swansea City as Leicester again struggled to convince away from home – only Hull and Crystal Palace have conceded more league goals than the 24 Claudio Ranieri’s men have shipped on the road.

At least the Foxes offered a threat going forward, and Riyad Mahrez was given a second half run-out after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations to further boost their attacking options. However, Claudio Ranieri’s men have managed just eight league goals in 11 away matches in the Premier League.

The replay at the King Power Stadium will be played on Wednesday, February 8 – sandwiched between a tough home match with Man United and a trip to fellow strugglers Swansea City.

Leicester’s Gameweek 28 fixture with Arsenal remains in doubt with both sides in the hat for the fifth round following the Gunners’ win at Southampton.

Leicester City XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs (Gray 45), Albrighton (Musa 74), Drinkwater, King, Chilwell, Okazaki (Mahrez 64), Vardy.
Subs not used: Zieler, Mendy, Ndidi, Benalouane.

Liverpool 1 Wolves 2

Liverpool’s woeful January got a whole lot worse as they were out-fought and out-thought by an impressive Wolves.

Just one win in eight attempts this month is damning enough, but three home defeats in a week is hardly preparation for the visit of league leaders Chelsea on Tuesday night.

After succumbing to a well-organised Southampton side who looked sharp on the break in the EFL Cup, Liverpool fell to the exact same game plan from Wolves.

Well-owned assets Adam Lallana (25.2%) and Nathaniel Clyne (10.2%) failed to make the squad through injury, with only Roberto Firmino and Loris Karius retaining their places from the Saints defeat as the Reds’ under-strength side fell behind with less than a minute on the clock.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were two down by half-time and an 86th minute Divock Origi goal, from a Daniel Sturridge assist, proved to be too little, too late.

The 18.7%-owned Philippe Coutinho was given another 45 minutes as Liverpool improved after the break, but it still took them an hour to record a shot on target.

This latest Anfield set-back will be food for thought for FPL managers with Liverpool players in their squads as the Reds face up to home matches with Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal over the next five Gameweeks.

Sadio Mane’s missed penalty for Senegal on Saturday evening, ensuring he will return early from the Africa Cup of Nations, is possibly the best result Liverpool have had in 2017 so far.

Despite being knocked out, Liverpool’s Gameweek 28 fixture remains in doubt after Burnley, their opponent that weekend, progressed into the fifth round draw.

Liverpool XI: Karius, Randall (Coutinho 45), Gomez, Klavan, Moreno, Lucas, Ejaria (Can 74), Wijnaldum, Woodburn, Firmino (Sturridge 65), Origi.
Subs not used: Mignolet, Milner, Stewart, Wilson.

Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 3

Pep Guardiola continued his commitment to taking the FA Cup seriously by fielding a strong side who proved far too much for Palace.

The impressive Gabriel Jesus made his first start up front, with Sergio Aguero missing out with a minor knock, although the Brazilian’s full debut ended early when he limped off following a challenge from Joe Ledley, with the tie already good and won.

Fit-again Vincent Kompany also started as City recorded a rare clean sheet, aided in part by facing a Palace attack that’s managed just two goals in five league matches under Sam Allardyce.

David Silva caught the eye, setting up Leroy Sane’s third goal in as many matches after Jesus had provided a delicious assist for Raheem Sterling’s opener.

At 7.5 and with just 0.2% ownership, Sane could be a differential candidate as City prepare for a kind run of fixtures through to Gameweek 28, although Sterling offers a more assured option.

That goal, combined with returns in five of the last seven Gameweeks, has brought him back into contention for consideration. Meanwhile, Yaya Toure kept his stock simmering after completing the scoring with a fine stoppage time free-kick.

However, any interest in City’s squad will surely be dampened by the potential for forthcoming blank Gameweeks.

They will already miss a Gameweek 26 derby with United with their Manchester rivals playing in the EFL Cup final that weekend.

One win from the FA Cup quarter-finals, which take place during Gameweek 28, City could also skip the home encounter with Stoke City.

For Palace, Allardyce made six changes to the side who lost to Everton. One of the survivors, new signing Jeffrey Schlupp, compounded a miserable day by picking up a hamstring injury which looks likely to consign him to the sidelines.

Palaces’ own Gameweek 28 situation remains cloudy given that that their opponents, Spurs, progressed to the fifth round with a scrambled win over Wycombe Wanderers.

Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Tomkins, Schlupp (Fryers 76), Flamini, Ledley, Mutch (McArthur 65), Townsend, Lee, Benteke (Remy 45).
Subs not used: Perntreou, Delaney, Kaikai, Cabaye.

Manchester City XI: Caballero, Sagna, Kompany, Kolarov, Clichy, Toure, Delph, Silva (Fernando 78), Sterling (Navas 66), Sane (Nolito 84), Jesus.
Subs not used: Bravo, Zabaleta, De Bruyne, Stones.

Burnley 2 Bristol City 0

Burnley at home, Burnley victory, Burnley clean sheet – there were no FA Cup surprises at Turf Moor.

Sean Dyche made eight changes, with Scott Arfield and Johann Berg Gudmundsson back from inury, and were still far too strong for their Championship opponents, with Steven Defour the pick of the players on view.

The Belgian set up Sam Vokes for the opener on the stroke of half-time before sealing the deal with a sublime chip.

Perhaps the key factor from Burnley’s victory is that it could knock Liverpool out of the equation for Gameweek 28.

Should the Clarets navigate through round five, their trip to Anfield would be postponed to create a double Gameweek scenario for both teams.

Burnley XI: Pope, Darikwa, Keane, Mee, Flanagan, Gudmundsson, Barton (Hendrick 70), Tarkowski, Defour (Kightly 78), Arfield (Barnes 70), Vokes.
Subs not used: Lowton, Gray, Robinson, Ward.

Tottenham Hotspur 4 Wycombe Wanderers 3

Mauricio Pochettino made a raft of changes that came perilously close to sinking Spurs, who won the match with ten men deep into injury time.

Wycombe were 2-0 up at the break before Heung-Min Son and Vincent Janssen, from the penalty spot, levelled the tie. Wanderers then went ahead again and were just seven minutes from victory until a late Dele Alli equaliser and a winner from Son fully seven minutes into time added broke Wycombe hearts.

Insult followed injury when Kieran Trippier was taken off with a hip problem after Pochettino had already made three substitutions, but Spurs somehow found a way to find the win, with assists from Trippier, Mousa Dembele and Janssen.

Trippier’s issue adds to a growing injury list for Spurs, who have Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld still doubtful for Tuesday’s trip to Sunderland.

If, as expected, Spurs make the quarter-finals, their visit to Crystal Palace in Gameweek 28 will be postponed.

Team: Vorm, Trippier, Carter-Vickers, Wimmer (Dembele 61), Davies, Dier (C), Winks, Sissoko, Onomah (Alli 61), Nkoudou (Janssen 45), Son.
Subs not used: Lopez, Walker, Walker-Peters, Wanyama.

Chelsea 4 Brentford 0

Even a massively changed side could not halt Chelsea’s relentless march as Antonio Conte’s second string made easy work of Brentford.

The 5.7%-owned Nathan Ake made his first appearance since returning from a loan spell at Bournemouth, part of a defence in which the only regular starter was Cesar Azpilicueta.

Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were left on the bench, allowing Willian and Michy Batshuayi to impress, and score, with Pedro and Branislav Ivanovic – who has been linked with a January move away from the club – also among the goals. Assists came from Pedro, Batshuayi and Ivanovic.

Chelsea’s immediate schedule is now more than a little tricky, involving a trip to Liverpool on Tuesday and a home match with Arsenal the following Saturday.

The Blues are so dominant at the moment – they have won 14 of their past 15 matches in all competitions – that it would be a major surprise if they didn’t make the FA Cup quarter-finals.

That would give them an unwanted blank in Gameweek 28, with the visit of Watford being postponed. The Hornets also play their fourth round tie with Millwall later today.

Chelsea XI: Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta (Kenedy 71), Pedro (Costa 76), Chalobah, Fabregas, Ake, Willian (Ivanovic 64), Batshuayi, Loftus-Cheek.
Subs not used: Eduardo, Moses, Matic, Hazard.

Middlesbrough 1 Accrington Stanley 0

Debuts for strikers Patrick Bamford and Rudy Gestede did little to improve Middlesbrough’s parlous goals record, and it was left to veteran Stewart Downing to see off League 2 strugglers Accrington.

Boro are the Premier League’s most toothless attack, with just 18 goals from 22 matches, but at least their considerably more effective defence, which has kept a fourth-best seven clean sheets, again showed its mettle.

Unfortunately for that defence, George Friend succumbed to a knock after just nine minutes. With Calum Chambers and Antonio Barragan highly doubtful for a Gameweek 23 home match with West Brom, coach Aitor Karanka could be down to just five fit defenders for Tuesday’s fixture.

Should Middlesbrough progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals, their Gameweek 28 derby match with Sunderland will be postponed.

Middlesbrough XI : Konstantopoulos, Fabio, Bernardo, Gibson, Friend (Fry 9), Bamford (Stuani 69), Clayton, Leadbitter, Fischer (Traore 61), Downing, Gestede.
Subs not used: Valdes, De Roon, Forshaw, Negredo.

Southampton 0 Arsenal 5

Just when you thought it was safe to rely on Olivier Giroud starting up front for Arsenal, along come Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott to muddy the selectorial waters.

Another returner, centre back Per Mertesacker, was on the bench for the Gunners, who made ten changes from the side that beat Burnley last weekend. Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin did not travel with Arsene Wenger stating that neither were “available”, presumably due to injury.

Southampton also made ten changes, but that was from Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final triumph at Anfield and the hangover proved long and painful at St Mary’s.

Welbeck opened the scoring with a fine chipped finish from a Lucas Perez pass before doubling the advantage from an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain assist.

The Gunners were three-up by half-time when Welbeck turned provider for Walcott and the latter completed his hat-trick after the break with two assists from substitute Alexis Sanchez.

Hector Bellerin played the full 90 minutes to please his 14.8% ownership base, but relying on Arsenal assets is complicated – and not just because of competition for places.

Arsene Wenger’s side have contrasting fixtures over the next four Gameweeks, with Watford and Hull at home and trips to Chelsea and Liverpool.

But they will already miss Gameweek 26 – another trip to Southampton – as the Saints will be busy playing the EFL Cup final, and should either Arsenal or Leicester City make the FA cup quarter-finals, their Gameweek 28 clash will be postponed.

Two blanks in three Gameweeks would test the resolve of the 37.6% who own Sanchez, while other popular picks include Mesut Ozil, Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Bellerin will likely be shipped during this period should Gameweek 28 drop out.

The return of Welbeck and Walcott will also be a concern, with Wenger now seemingly presented with an array of options and configurations in the attacking positions. Certainly, Giroud’s starting role now appears to be under intense pressure.

As for Southampton, Claude Puel is struggling to utilise his squad effectively in the face of a demanding campaign. Their inconsistency and the sense that their season now rests on that EFL Cup final makes their players somewhat unreliable FPL picks.

The Saints could also miss Gameweek 28 should Manchester United progress beyond the fifth round of the FA Cup. The Red Devils play their fourth round tie against Wigan Athletic later today.

Southampton XI: Lewis, Martina, Stephens, Gardos, McQueen, Reed, Clasie, Hojbjerg, Sims, Isgrove (Tadic 64), Long (Redmond 65).
Subs not used: Yoshida, Davis, Romeu, Bertrand, Taylor.

Arsenal XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Maitland-Niles, Walcott, Reine-Adelaide (Iwobi 72), Perez, Welbeck (Sanchez 65).
Subs not used: Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal, Jenkinson, Martinez.