Shock defeats, unwanted replays, injuries and landmark goals – Saturday’s serving of FA Cup third round ties proves to be mainly feast, with a dash or two of famine.
Rojo Crocked in United stroll
Wayne Rooney (8.6) equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s Manchester United goal scoring record with the opener in a routine 4-0 win over their Championship opponents Reading.
The England striker steered home Juan Mata’s (7.2) cross in the opening ten minutes of a match United dominated throughout.
Anthony Martial (9.3) doubled the lead from a Rooney assist before Marcus Rashford (6.4), who was a constant threat, scored twice in the second half.
Jose Mourinho made nine changes from the team that won at West Ham, leaving some of his biggest guns on the bench, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Marcos Rojo (5.2) was one of two players retained but lasted just 20 minutes of the tie, sustaining a muscle injury the coach discussed post-match.
“I don’t know (what the damage is). We have to wait a little bit. A muscle is a muscle and you’re always afraid of it but let’s see what is going on…It would be so important for us to keep our central defenders fit for the month of January. But I prefer to wait. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones did a very good job for us.”
United’s last three league clean sheets have come with Rojo and Jones (4.9) at the heart of the defence. With Eric Bailly (5.3) at the Africa Cup of Nations and a strong set of fixtures to come after the Gameweek 21 visit by Liverpool, losing Rojo would be a major blow.
While it would seemingly cement Jones’ starting role, it would also cast doubt on the resilience of United’s defence which had looked a settled unit.
Manchester United XI: Romero, Young, Smalling, Rojo (Jones 19), Blind, Carrick (Fosu-Mensah 78), Fellaini, Mata (Schweinsteiger 78), Rooney, Martial, Rashford.
Subs not used: Pereira, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Ibrahimovic.
Musa stakes his claim
Substitute Ahmed Musa (6.9) fired Leicester City into the fourth round – and did his own starting prospects no harm – in a comeback win over Everton at Goodison Park.
With Jamie Vardy (9.6) unwell and not travelling, Islam Slimani (8.3) away at the Africa Cup of Nations and Leonardo Ulloa (5.5) injured in the match, Musa timed his brace of goals perfectly.
New signing Wilfred Ndidi made his debut after his £15 million move from Genk, while Danny Drinkwater (5.3) returned following a knee injury.
For Everton, Romelu Lukaku (9.5 and 24.3%-owned) maintained his recent scoring form, converting the simplest of tap-ins after some wing wizardry from Gerard Deulofeu (5.9), before Musa turned the tie around.
Post-match, Claudio Ranieri brought us this on Ulloa’s knock and Vardy’s absence…
“I don’t know now about Ulloa. Maybe we have to wait 24 or 48 hours to understand it better. It was his thigh (quad muscle). I also expected Vardy to play, he and Andy King had the fever yesterday. They weren’t ready to travel with us but I hope they will be ready for the next match against Chelsea.”
Everton XI: Robles, Funes Mori, Williams, Holgate (Deulofeu 45), Coleman, Davies, Barry, Barkley (Koné 75), Baines, Lukaku, Valencia (Mirallas 62).
Subs not used: Jagielka, Cleverley, Oviedo, Hewelt.
Leicester City XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Chilwell, Mendy, Ndidi, Drinkwater, Gray (Fuchs 77), Ulloa (Musa 35), Albrighton (Kapustka 84).
Subs not used: Hernández, James, Okazaki, Zieler.
Dawson concern for Tigers
Hull City boss Marco Silva had a debut match in charge to remember and rue in equal measure.
The victory over Swansea City was the first time since November and also earned them a first clean sheet in 23 matches in all competitions. However, it may have come at a cost having lost skipper Michael Dawson (4.4) to a shoulder injury.
The Tigers’ defence was already painfully makeshift, with Harry Maguire (4.4) and Curtis Davies (4.9) missing through injury and right-back Ahmed Elmohamady (4.7) on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Losing Dawson would be a major blow ahead of Tuesday night’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg at Manchester United and a daunting set of league fixtures that includes Chelsea, United (again), Liverpool and Arsenal over the next five Gameweeks.
Hull finished the tie with three midfielders among the back four, but at least Abel Hernandez (5.9) scored on his return from injury to sweeten the pill, with Josh Tymon (4.0) adding a second in injury time.
Hernandez managed his first minutes since Gameweek 11 and, should he cement a starting role, could now regain penalty duties from Hull’s stand-out player of the season, Robert Snodgrass (5.8).
Elsewhere, Eldin Jakupovic earned a start in goal for the Tigers and impressed with a trio of fine saves as Silva elected to bench David Marshall. It’s possible that the battle for the Hull City number one spot has been reset under the new manager, then, which could see Jakupovic back in the reckoning. He’s still owned by 19% of FPL managers but is now priced at just 3.9.
Silva adopted a wait-and-see approach regarding Dawson post-match.
“We will see, we need to speak to the doctors about it. I hope it is possible that Michael can play in the next game, but we will talk to the doctors first.”
Swansea City manager Paul Clement, also taking charge for the first time, had Neil Taylor (4.2) unavailable with a rib injury and dropped Fernando Llorente (6.2) to the bench as his side matched their opponents for shots on target and possession but failed to build on Tuesday’s win at Crystal Palace.
Hull City XI: Jakupovic, Meyler, Livermore, Dawson (Maloney 70), Robertson, Henriksen (Hernández 63), Huddlestone, Mason, Clucas, Snodgrass, Diomande (Tymon 89).
Subs not used: Weir, Marshall, Bowen, Clackstone.
Swansea City X: Nordfeldt, Naughton, van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Kingsley (Rangel 67), Fer, Cork, Ki Sung-yueng, Dyer (Routledge 63), Bastón (Llorente 62), Sigurdsson.
Subs not used: Fabianski, Amat, Britton, Fulton.
Saints suffer fixture pile-up
Goals from Virgil van Dijk (5.8) and Maya Yoshida (4.2) failed to put away a spirited Norwich city, leaving an over-burdened Southampton with yet another fixture to fulfil.
Saints coach Claude Puel made eight changes to the side who lost 3-0 to Everton, no doubt with Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool in his mind.
But he’ll now have to factor in a January 18 replay which means Southampton will have to play five matches in 17 days, starting with a Gameweek 21 trip to Burnley.
With experienced centre-half Jose Fonte (5.4) handing in a transfer request, Puel’s defensive resources could be stretched to the limit just when a favourable run of matches – the Burnley clash followed by Leicester and West Ham at home and trips to Swansea and Sunderland – kicks in.
The Saints boss refused to confirm that Fonte was omitted in Saturday’s tie due to the speculation surrounding his future, but revealed that he is yet to decide whether the centre-back will face Liverpool in midweek.
Southampton XI: Lewis, Stephens, Yoshida, van Dijk, Bertrand, Reed (Romeu 63), Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Sims (Redmond 78), Long (Rodriguez 63), Tadic.
Subs not used: Clasie, Davis, Taylor, McQueen.
Ake Set for Chelsea Return
Elsewhere, three Premier League teams fell to lower league opposition, with Stoke City and West Brom fielding strong teams and still coming unstuck, to Wolves and Derby respectively, although the 17.3%-owned Baggies’ midfielder Matt Phillips (5.7) continued his fine form with his second goal in three matches in all competitions.
The winger is second only to Tottenham Hotspurs’ Dele Alli for transfer traffic ahead of Gameweek 21, having returned four goals and seven assists in his last ten league outings.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, made 11 changes to their starting line-up, produced zero shots on target and were well beaten by Millwall, with defender Marc Wilson (3.9) limping off late on.
Marc Pugh (4.7) and Lewis Cook (5.1) returned from injuries for the Cherries, but the main story in their camp involved defender Nathan Ake (4.4 and 9.9%-owned) with manager Eddie Howe confirming that he could now be recalled by Chelsea from his loan spell.
“It looks like that will be the case, it’s not 100% finalised yet.”
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had previously offered a glowing review of Ake’s form, although it’s uncertain just how he would fit into the picture at Stamford Bridge; a starting role would certainly seem unlikely.
This would come as a major setback for Ake’s owners, with the loanee currently found in more than Fantasy Premier League 370,000 squads, earning over 60,000 new owners ahead of Gameweek 21 so far.
Meanwhile, Sunderland and Burnley played out a goalless draw and must meet again on January 17.
For the Black Cats, the replay will be sandwiched between a home match with Stoke City and a trip to West Brom – fixtures David Moyes will see as vital in Sunderland’s bid to stave off relegation.
The Clarets host Southampton and travel to Arsenal either side of the cup tie. Two of their players – Scott Arfield (5.2) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (5.0) – went off injured in the stalemate at the Stadium of Light with hamstring issues.
Watford beat Burton Albion 2-0 to record their first win since Gameweek 15, but it came at a cost.
Goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes (4.9) and left-back Jose Holebas (4.8) were absent through illness while Craig Cathcart (4.3) was forced off after 16 minutes with a head injury.
Arsenal came from behind to beat Preston 2-1, Olivier Giroud (8.6) scoring for the fourth consecutive match with a late winner in a tie which also marked the return from a long-term injury of striker Danny Welbeck (7.3).
He saw just seven minutes of action from the bench as both Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott missed out again for the Gunners.
Hector Bellerin was also an absentee, with Arsene Wenger stating that the Spaniard had suffered an injury in training, with little or no details available on the severity.
Finally, Crystal Palace were held to a goalless at Bolton and will replay at Selhurst Park on January 17, bookended by league fixtures with West Ham away and Everton at home.
Sam Allardyce was able to give Loic Remy (6.3) a first start for Palace with the Frenchman handed a 45-minute appearance following long-term injury.
Post-match, Remy, who struck a post in the tie, revealed that his pitch time is being managed to suggest that he could be a factor in the Gameweek 21 trip to West Ham…
“It was already planned that I was going to play 45 minutes that will build me up for the next game and hopefully I will be able to get more minutes in that match.”
