Burnley continue their fine home record while Palace come from behind to avoid a shock against Bolton as the FA Cup third round replays go to form.
Burnley 2 Sunderland 0
Burnley eased past Sunderland and into the fourth round of the FA Cup in a match both sides could have been forgiven for wanting to lose.
Clarets’ boss Sean Dyche made seven changes to the team that beat Southampton on Saturday, with only midfield trio George Boyd (5.1), Steven Defour (5.7) and Jeff Hendrick (5.4), together with defender Michael Keane (4.9), retaining their places.
Sunderland, by contrast, fielded a side much closer to their first XI, with the benching of the 29.3%-owned Jermain Defoe (7.9) the main decision by David Moyes, who also brought in Billy Jones (4.4) and George Honeyman (4.5) as his only other changes from the weekend. Jack Rodwell was their latest injury casualty, ruled out with a knee problem sustained in the defeat to Stoke City.
The goals came from Sam Vokes (5.9), assisted by defender Tendayi Darikwa (4.2), and substitute Andre Gray (6.2), who was set up by Boyd.
Gray, a 5.3%-owned Fantasy asset, had not scored in two league matches, but now has five goals from his last six fixtures in all competitions.
Defoe was brought on in the second half, but was ill-served by a side that managed just two attempts on goal.
Post-match, Moyes rued his squad’s lack of depth.
“I’m really disappointed because we are threadbare at the moment. There were some positives – George (Honeyman) played well for us tonight and we played with three at the back to see if we could stop Burnley bullying us a little bit defensively.”
A change of formation to a three-man backline does have the potential to allow another relatively popular Sunderland asset, the 4.4%-owned Patrick van Aanholt (5.0), a more attacking role.
But Defoe, who has scored four times in Sunderland’s current four-match winless run in the league, remains the Black Cats only real Fantasy attraction.
Burnley will now play Bristol City at Turf Moor on Saturday, January 28, before the Gameweek 23 visit of Leicester on the following Tuesday.
Burnley XI: Pope, Darikwa, Keane, Tarkowski, Flanagan, Kightly (Gray 77), Boyd (O’Neill 90), Barton, Defour, Hendrick, Vokes.
Subs not used: Robinson, Mee, Lowton, Ward, Jackson.
Sunderland XI: Mannone, Jones, Denayer, Djilobodji, van Aanholt, Manquillo, Larsson, Love (Defoe 63), Honeyman, Januzaj, Borini (Asoro 80).
Subs not used: Mika, O’Shea, E Robson, Embleton, T Robson.
Crystal Palace 2 Bolton Wanderers 1
Christian Benteke (7.4) came off the bench to score twice in 30 minutes and give Sam Allardyce his first win as Palace manager.
The 5.7%-owned Belgian hasn’t scored in the league since Gameweek 15 – the end of a purple patch during which he netted five times in as many matches – and has suffered a major decline in ownership and price as a result.
A return to form could reverse both those trends as Palace prepare for a vital run of fixtures involving Everton, Sunderland and Middlesbrough at home and trips to Bournemouth, Stoke City and West Brom.
Allardyce made seven changes to the team well beaten by West Ham at the weekend, but having talked up new signing Jeffrey Schlupp (4.8) pre-match, the former Leicester man was not eligible to make the squad.
Midfielder Sullay Kaikai (4.5) was given his first ever Eagles start, while Joel Ward (4.8), Damien Delaney (4.8), Andros Townsend (5.9) and Joe Ledley (4.4) were the only survivors from Saturday’s side.
Palace were on course for a loss before Allardyce chanced his arm with a triple substitution. Benteke responded by heading home a Mathieu Flamini (4.3) cross and then steered home the winner from a Townsend assist.
The manager didn’t dwell on the victory for long post-match, spending much of the time talking of the need to strengthen his squad.
“We are spreading our wings far and wide and hopefully in the next 48 hours, at least one of those targets will be saying yes, pass a medical and sign for us. It’s hard to say how many we’re looking for; we’ve had about five, six or even eight bids in for players across Europe and in this country, and we’ve only had one accepted, which is Jeffrey Schlupp.”
The Eagles’ immediate schedule is certainly demanding. The FA Cup victory means they’ll entertain Man City in the fourth round on Saturday, January 28 – three days before they travel to Bournemouth for Gameweek 23.
City will have the benefit of an extra day off before their trip to West Ham on the Wednesday evening.
Crystal Palace XI: Speroni, Ward, Kelly, Delaney (Tomkins 62), Fryers, Lee, Flamini, Ledley (Puncheon 63), Townsend, Kaikai, Remy (Benteke 62).
Subs not used: Hennessey, Phillips, Cabaye, Husin.
