We’ve already assessed the implication of the weekend’s FA Cup results on Gameweek 34.
Now, we look at some of the other talking points from Saturday and Sunday’s cup ties.
Six Premier League teams were in action: Liverpool, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers and the two Manchester clubs.
LIVERPOOL INJURY CONCERNS
All eyes will be on any international break withdrawals over the next few days, especially at Liverpool.
The Reds already have a long injury list but Darwin Nunez (£7.5m), Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) and Luis Diaz (£7.5m) are all possible concerns after the extra-time defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
“Now, the boys go on international duty, they have to recover. We hope they come back healthy. We had some problems. Lucho (Diaz) felt his groin, Darwin his hamstring, hopefully it is not. And Cody has twisted his ankle I think. I didn’t see it back, so we have to see.
“I don’t know when they play their first game but probably in four or five days, it’s a crazy schedule. Let’s hope they can get through that and then the rest of the season starts.
“The more of the boys we have available then the bigger our chances are to finish the season in style. We will see. For the moment, we are out, I really feel for our people. It was a good performance from us at times but also our people as well.” – Jurgen Klopp
The sliver of good news is that Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) got another start under his belt, lasting 73 minutes. He’s looking more and more like the Salah of old with every game, too.
The Egyptian was in the right place at the right time to slam home the rebound from Nunez’s saved effort. That was one of ‘two assists’ for the otherwise profligate Uruguayan. The other led to a goal for Alexis Mac Allister (£5.8m), who is enjoying a bit more freedom these days as an ‘eight’ rather than a ‘six’.
There was some sloppiness for United’s goals, be it misplaced passes or runners not tracked. That it’s taken this long for Liverpool to turn in a jaded display is to their credit, with their squad very stretched right now. Three fronts become two now, which might not be a bad thing.
“That was the first time that I really saw my team struggling. We’ve played a lot of football recently. We didn’t even know who to take off.” – Jurgen Klopp
BODIES RETURN FOR UNITED
The Red Devils welcomed back six players from injury for this match, the most notable from a Fantasy perspective being a rusty Rasmus Hojlund (£7.0m). Mason Mount (£6.8m) – remember him? – also made a first appearance since November.
Amad Diallo (£4.4m) stole the headlines with his late winner, while there was a redemptive arc for Marcus Rashford (£8.4m) after he followed up two missed sitters for United’s third goal.
Alejandro Garnacho (£4.9m) once again caught the eye, however. Six shots and five chances created were tallies that were unbeaten at Old Trafford. His volume of goal attempts is something we’ve frequently commented on in these articles but what’s often overlooked is the ‘Fantasy assists’ it can lead to. Had this been a league game, he’d have banked three assists: one orthodox, two rebounds.
Knackered though Liverpool might have been, United were excellent for periods against the old enemy.
“Yes, I thought [the] first 35 minutes was the best I have seen from my team this season. We played so well, in and out of possession. And then the last 10 minutes. And also after half-time, we dropped off a level, and you see Liverpool is a very good team. And then they took over, but then, finally, we changed our style, the system especially, and from that moment on we took the initiative, and we believed in it, and we created chances, and we scored goals.” – Erik ten Hag
GORDON FIT, BOTMAN A CONCERN + FORMATION CHANGE
Newcastle lined up in a wing-back system for their annual/biannual defeat at the Etihad.
Different shape, same outcome. The Magpies had just two shots all match, with Manchester City barely getting out of first gear.
Eddie Howe’s post-match comments suggested it was a horses-for-courses selection, so it’s maybe not a formation we’ll see in the Premier League.
“We tried to give them a different problem. We’ve played against them a lot this season already, and we tried to be creative with our team selection, always with an eye on both phases of defending and attacking.
“We felt that two strikers could give us a better platform to attack, and I do think there were high points within that. But overall, we weren’t good enough. They were better than us, and technically, I thought they were superb.
“I wanted to change things around for this game. That was in my mind as soon as the draw was made. I thought there were some positives to take from it so it is not something I would rule out again. All systems are open to me.” – Eddie Howe
The absence of both Tino Livramento (£4.1m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.7m) may have also been a reason for the formation change. Instead of a right-back, we saw winger Jacob Murphy (£4.8m) as a wing-back.
Livramento was an unexpected absentee for this game thanks to a twisted ankle. Howe “hopes” he’ll be back for Gameweek 30. Trippier is on a similar timeline of recovery.
Sven Botman (£4.5m) meanwhile came off late in the game; an injury to him would give Jamaal Lascelles (£3.9m) more minutes.
“I saw that he was getting treatment in the box from the corner it looked like a problem with his knee so we will assess that.” – Eddie Howe on Sven Botman
Someone who was fit was Anthony Gordon (£6.1m), who started just five days after it was feared he had sustained a season-ending injury. He was part of a front two with Alexander Isak (£7.5m) here.
FODEN CENTRAL AGAIN
Erling Haaland (£14.3m) again wasn’t quite at his best as Manchester City strolled into the semis. We’ve seen some real profligacy from the Norwegian since his return from injury, with another five shots unconverted here.
Similar noises were made before his five-goal salvo against Luton Town earlier this month, of course…
Phil Foden (£8.1m) looked as bright as ever, again used in the central role he loves so much. A couple of bits of clever backheel-ery, one setting up a chance for Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) and the other an opening for himself, demonstrated the confidence flowing through his veins right now.
Two Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) goals did the damage for City. The deflections on both strikes were lucky, the scoreline was not.
Jack Grealish (£7.2m) returned from injury as an unused substitute, while Guardiola said after full-time that the absent Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) would be back “soon”.
The City boss also sent out the usual chilling warning to Fantasy managers, with his side about to play twice a week, every week, from now until the end of the season – if they get past Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarters.
“Every three days, we have a game. Every three days, three days, three days, three days. So, we define Premier League, define of course Champions League. Everyone is going to help us because no player can sustain every three days.” – Pep Guardiola
AIT-NOURI’S GOAL THREAT + BAD NEWS ON NETO
Gary O’Neil delivered some mixed news on the injury front in the aftermath of Wolves’ astonishing five-goal thriller with Coventry City.
The good: Matheus Cunha (£5.5m), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (£4.9m) and Craig Dawson (£4.5m) are all nearing a return. The bad: Hwang Hee-chan (£5.5m) will be out for another month at least, while Pedro Neto‘s (£5.7m) season may be over.
“Pedro, potentially, it’s the end of the season for him. It’s very similar to the injury he suffered on the other side. There’s a chance he comes back for the last couple, maybe, if it goes really well.
“It’s similar to the last injury, which was around nine weeks, so potentially around that timeframe. The rehab can go differently, so it could be quicker or slightly longer. We’ll see how it goes.
“Bellegarde’s knee is not as bad as we first feared. It depends how the next couple of weeks go, he might be around for Aston Villa, if not it shouldn’t be too long after.
“Cunha is doing really well and hopefully over the next two weeks he’ll get himself in contention for Aston Villa, providing everything goes well as there are still a few things he needs to check off.
“Channy was six to eight weeks when he first did it, so that leaves him at possibly another five to go.
“Dawson’s groin injury is not a serious one, providing the rehab goes well, so we’re hopeful to have him back for the Aston Villa game.” – Gary O’Neil
Neto being out is not great for Wolves but it is potentially good news for Pablo Sarabia (£4.7m). It’s not just less competition for his place but the fact that his main rival for set plays is now crocked until May.
Not many Wolves players emerged from the defeat to Coventry with much credit. The ballboy baiters from the second tier had much the better chances overall.
Really catching the eye, though, was Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m).
Drifting infield from his left wing-back role, he scored one, assisted another, hit the post and registered seven shots in all:
Above: Rayan Ait-Nouri’s shot map v Coventry, via Whoscored
POCH ON PENALTIES, JACKSON GOOD AGAIN
Just like in the fifth round, Chelsea made heavy work of defeating a Championship side.
They were in complete control before Axel Disasi‘s (£4.9m) hilarious own goal, with Raheem Sterling (£6.9m) the villain of the piece.
A spurned one-on-one chance and a comical ballooned free-kick were bad enough but the missed first-half penalty took the biscuit, especially as flawless first-choice taker Cole Palmer (£5.7m) was on the field. Palmer has a 5/5 senior record on penalties, Sterling 4/9. There seems little chance of Palmer ceding the next one – to Sterling anyway – in the Premier League.
“No, I think, you know very well that he scores but Cole gave the ball to Raheem. I think they have very good relationship that came from, of course, Manchester City.
“I think when Raheem asked for the ball to take the penalty, I think Cole gave, you know, the ball you saw, you can see in the TV, but that is not a problem.
“Cole can miss, Raheem can miss. Look, for me, the decision is there and of course, I’m going to support always the decision of my players on the pitch. That is about to grow and be more mature and of course, always happy we take decisions.” – Mauricio Pochettino
It was business as usual when it came to Chelsea’s Fantasy assets. Palmer was central to most moves, scoring, assisting and racking up eight shots. Malo Gusto (£4.2m) was excellent again, supplying yet another assist – even if this one was a bit fortunate for Noni Madueke‘s (£5.3m) solo goal.
It’s mostly been just Gusto and Palmer in terms of FPL appeal but is Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) reentering the thinking? He’s been very decent in the last month or so, delivering an attacking return in each of the last five matches in league and cup.
The one significant downside is the fact that he’s sitting on nine yellow cards in the league. One more and he’s banned for two fixtures.
