Jesse Lingard maintained his rich vein of form as a strong Manchester United labour to a 2-0 victory over Derby, while Liverpool’s win over Everton is clouded in controversy.
Both Jose Mourinho and his Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp fielded close to first-choice teams last night, suggesting the duo see the FA Cup as their best hope of silverware this season.
The United boss made five changes to the side that beat Everton on New Year’s Day, resting key defender Phil Jones and handing Henrikh Mkhitaryan a start in place of Nemanja Matic against Championship form team Derby County.
The Armenian was part of a star-studded midfield that, perhaps surprisingly, also included Paul Pogba and the in-form Jesse Lingard, who has scored four goals across the last five Gameweeks.
His excellent recent showings have seen him soar to the top of Gameweek 23’s transfers-in table, with more than 210,000 managers buying Lingard ahead of a visit from struggling Stoke City two Mondays from now. A further price rise to 6.3 prior to the Potters meeting appears imminent.
The 14.0%-owned midfielder responded with yet another goal, firing home from an assist by substitute Romelu Lukaku with just six minutes of the tie remaining.
The Belgian striker, back in action a week after being stretchered off with a head injury, then sealed the deal on 90 minutes when another sub, Anthony Martial, played him in on the counter-attack.
United had 28 shots against the Rams, ten of which were on target, and Marcus Rashford twice hit the post in a profilgate display.
But the key fact to emerge from the night was just how seriously Mourinho took the tie.
There might have been an element of ego to that – United, after all, were dumped out of the EFL Cup by Bristol City before Christmas – but with the league Man City’s to lose and the Champions League no more than a remote chance of glory, the FA Cup may now be a priority.
Should both United and Liverpool continue to value a good cup run, rotation will be a major factor as things develop, albeit a lot further down the line.
The fourth and fifth rounds – in late January and mid-February – dovetail with the Premier League schedule.
The competition reaches the quarter and semi-final stages during Gameweeks 31 (mid-March) and 35 (late April) respectively, and those ties will cause postponements and possible double Gameweeks.
By then, of course, both sides might have gone a lot deeper in the Champions League as well.
These considerations are not a concern just yet, but it might be worth filing away the impact the FA Cup could still have on our squads as things develop later in the season.
Firmino incident clouds Liverpool win
Virgil Van Dijk capped his Liverpool debut with the winning goal in the Merseyside derby, but his moment of glory was overshadowed by a potential FA investigation involving team-mate Firmino.
Liverpool’s record signing headed home a late corner to seal the Reds’ 2-1 FA Cup third round win over Everton.
It was a dramatic end to a match that, for a local derby, was a relatively tepid affair until Mason Holgate pushed Firmino into the Anfield crowd, sparking a heated exchange between the pair.
Post-match, there were reports that the FA will investigate what was said, with the press stating that there have been allegations that Firmino racially abused the Everton defender during their exchange.
The matter is, obviously, in its infancy and could boil down to little more than a misunderstood comment in a string of Portuguese expletives.
But should any charge be made, the Liverpool striker could be looking at a significant suspension – Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey missed five matches for racially abusing a Wolves player in December 2016, for instance.
Owned by 37.2% of FPL managers, Firmino’s stock in FPL is currently simmering. While he has suffered 72,000+ sales ahead of the Gameweek 23 clash with Manchester City, some 86,000 acquisitions have made him the current top target in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
In contrast, team-mates Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho are suffering heavy losses. The pair are the two most sold assets ahead of the City clash with 189,000+ and 102,000+ sales respectively.
Salah was at Anfield to watch last night’s cup tie, whereas Coutinho, long linked with a move to Barcelona, was conspicuous by his absence.
On the pitch, matters were rather clearer.
Both managers fielded strong sides, with Klopp pairing up Van Dijk and Joel Matip in what most agree is likely to be his first choice centre-back partnership.
Fit-again Adam Lallana was given another start, playing 70 minutes and earning the penalty from which James Milner opened the scoring.
Gylfi Sigurdsson then equalised from a fast Everton break which involved the key pass delivered by, of all people, veteran centre-half Phil Jagielka.
The Toffees’ new striker, Cenk Tosun, was signed too late to be eligible for the tie, meaning Dominic Calvert-Lewin again led the line.
But the 12.4%-owned forward looks likely to be given only limited pitch-time from now on, with more than 700,000 FPL managers set to begin a search for an alternative third striker.
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