Brighton leave it late to secure their place in the FA Cup fourth round after a generally lifeless 2-1 ‘derby’ win over Crystal Palace.
The draw then throws up the possibility of four all-Premier League ties, with rotation likely to be an issue for some as Gameweek 25 follows the day after the fourth round is completed.
Glenn Murray came off the bench to win the Seagulls’ third round tie with Palace when he got a bit of knee, chest and, maybe, arm on Uwe Hunemeier’s header.
The much-vaunted video assistant referee (VAR) system wasn’t used to determine the legality of the winner to add a minor crumb of controversy to what was an otherwise stodgy encounter in which Dale Stephens had given the home side the lead before a fine Bakary Sako goal leveled matters after the break.
More relevant from a Fantasy perspective was that both sides were left with injury issues to digest, with Palace boss Roy Hodgson coming off the worst.
He lost both Jeffrey Schlupp (foot) and Andros Townsend by half-time, with the latter’s ankle injury a concern for his 1.3% ownership ahead of Saturday’s visit from Burnley. Townsend left the Amex Stadium on crutches, while Schlupp was wearing a protective boot.
Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke were handed the night off as Hodgson rested both ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Burnley. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is Palace’s most-owned FPL asset on 6.9%, once again missed out through injury.
The Eagles’ manager couldn’t disguise his anguish post-match as he faces up to a situation in which four regular starting defenders and three midfielders will now potentially miss the weekend’s action.
“I can’t remember a situation where I’ve had to select a team with seven players totally out of the question in terms of being able to play and then to lose two more who’ve been playing every week for us making it nine. We can only hope that one or two of them that couldn’t play tonight through injury might just recover for the weekend if we’re lucky, but we’ll only find that out on Thursday or Friday. It’s going to be a late shout.”
Brighton midfielder Izzy Brown (knee) was another who didn’t last the first-half, although manager Chris Hughton was able to rest most of his first-teamers.
Key assets such as Pascal Gross, Anthony Knockaert and Shane Duffy were given the night off, while Murray only came on for the last nine minutes and Lewis Dunk was an unused sub.
Draw demands rotation for some
The FA Cup fourth round will take place over the weekend of January 26-29, with the televised matches yet to be confirmed.
Gameweek 24 precedes it, but that’s a full week before, barring the Monday, January 22 match between Swansea City and Liverpool.
But that doesn’t mean rotation won’t be an issue as Gameweek 25 will arrive hot on the heels of Monday night’s fourth round conclusion, with three Premier League matches taking place the day after, on January 30.
The fourth round draw for the top-flight teams is: Liverpool v West Brom; Peterborough v Leicester City/Fleetwood; Huddersfield v Birmingham; Notts County v Swansea/Wolves; Yeovil v Man United; Cardiff/Mansfield v Man City; Southampton v Watford; Middlesbrough v Brighton; Bournemouth/Wigan v West Ham/Shrewsbury; Newport County v Spurs and Norwich/Chelsea v Newcastle.
Should all the Premier League teams make it through their replays, the fourth round will contain four ties involving exclusively top-flight sides.
Gameweek 25’s Tuesday night fixtures – Swansea City v Arsenal, West Ham v Palace and Huddersfield v Liverpool – involve five teams that are, at present, still in the FA Cup, with only the Gunners already out of the competition for certain.
Based on what happened in the third round, the ‘lesser’ teams have rotated more as they view Premier League survival a bigger prize than cup glory.
But Liverpool and both Manchester sides fielded strong third-round teams, with Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho perhaps viewing the FA Cup as a good opportunity for silverware as the league seems beyond them, barring an epic Man City disintegration.
As a result, Liverpool’s Gameweek 25 trip to Huddersfield might be shorn of some of the Reds’ stars if they’ve been used in the weekend cup tie against West Brom.
United’s situation is harder to call as their trip to Yeovil is, on paper at least, winnable without the need for a full-strength side, particularly as Gameweek 25 then involves a huge match away at Spurs.
As for Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino rested many of his key assets in the third round and is likely to do so again away at Newport.
The rotation strategy of Pep Guardiola continues to be a source of mystery. He fielded close to his best XI in the FA Cup at the weekend, despite its proximity to tonight’s EFL Cup semi-final tie with Bristol City.
A trip to Cardiff or Mansfield looks like a great opportunity to rest key players ahead of Gameweek 25’s visit from West Brom, but Guardiola remains a law unto himself.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is considerably easier to read. He rotated heavily for the weekend tie at Norwich and is likely to do so again for next week’s replay and, should they progress from that, the fourth round match-up at home to Newcastle.
Then again, the Blues entertain Bournemouth in Gameweek 25 – a fixture they would expect to win – so Conte could mix and match his selections should he begin to take the FA Cup more seriously as they progress through the rounds.
The other Gameweek 25 matches involving teams still currently in the FA Cup are: Everton v Leicester; Newcastle v Burnley; Southampton v Brighton and Stoke City v Watford.
