More FA Cup reaction now as we continue to bring you some notes-in-brief from the ties involving Premier League sides.
Here, it’s the turn of Newcastle United, Southampton and Ipswich Town.
With many clubs rotating heavily and Football League teams providing the opposition, there are limited takeaways from the actual on-field action.
But injuries and rests are very much pertinent ahead of the midweek Gameweek 21 action.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
| Goals | Assists | |
|---|---|---|
| Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers | Phillips, J Clarke, Taylor | Clarke, Al Hamadi x2 |
| Newcastle United 3-1 Bromley | Miley, Gordon pen, Osula | Targett x2, Guimaraes |
| Southampton 3-0 Swansea City | Sulemana, Dibling x2 | Ugochukwu, Sulemana |
TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION
| Starting XI changes from last game* | Players who kept their place (mins) | Other mins for selected players | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ipswich Town | 10 | Woolfenden (90) | Johnson (90), Muric (81), Godfrey (73), Johnson (45), Hirst (17) |
| Newcastle United | 9 | Dubravka (90), Joelinton (45) | Schar (90), Osula (69), Barnes (45), Gordon (45), Guimaraes (45), Hall (21) |
| Southampton | 2 | Ramsdale (90), Bree (90), Harwood-Bellis (90), Walker-Peters (90), Aribo (86), Bednarek (73), Ugochukwu (67), Sulemana (67), Dibling (67) | Manning (90), Fernandes (90), Archer (23), Armstrong (23) |
*Gameweek 20 in the cases of Ipswich and Southampton, the EFL Cup semi-final in Newcastle’s
ISAK, BOTMAN + MURPHY INJURY UPDATES
In between an EFL Cup semi-final and a midweek Gameweek 21 fixture, Eddie Howe unsurprisingly rang the changes at home to League Two outfit Bromley.
None of the outfielders who won at the Emirates at midweek got more than 45 minutes here. Several of them didn’t get onto the pitch at all.
Alexander Isak (£9.3m) and Sven Botman (£4.4m) weren’t involved, as signposted by Howe in his pre-match presser. But Jacob Murphy (£5.1m) and Joe Willock (£4.8m) were also absent, while Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) came off at half-time with a muscle issue.
“I wouldn’t say major injury news.
“Jacob just felt his calf slightly so we withdrew him. Joe Willock felt his hip slightly so we withdrew him. Sven had an ongoing groin complaint but we think he is going to be okay. The same with Alex, we hope he will be okay.” – Eddie Howe on his absentees
Howe will face the media on Tuesday ahead of the Gameweek 21 clash with Wolves to hopefully give us the latest on the walking wounded.
As for the on-field action, Newcastle’s B team relied on a couple of howitzers from fringe players Lewis Miley (£5.0m) and Will Osula (£4.9m) to overturn a shock early lead from Bromley. In between, Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) – on earlier than intended for Barnes – netted a penalty in the absence of Isak.
Fabian Schar (£5.4m) returned from consecutive one-match bans to line up at centre-half. Lewis Hall (£4.9m) was handed 21 minutes as a second-half substitute, with forgotten deputy Matt Targett (£4.0m) banking two assists.
GODFREY DEBUT, HIRST RETURNS, DELAY RESTED
Kieran McKenna was even busier than Howe, making 10 changes to his starting XI. Again, the vast majority of these players won’t start in Gameweek 21.
Luke Woolfenden (£4.0m) was the only starter from the draw with Fulham who kept his place.
Ben Godfrey (£4.0m) made his debut following a loan move from Atalanta, taking up the Dara O’Shea (£4.1m) right-back/centre-half hybrid role.
Meanwhile, Jacob Greaves’ (£3.9m) owners would have been pleased to see positional rival Cameron Burgess (£4.0m) featuring in this glorified reserve team. The same goes for Christian Walton (£4.3m), as Ari Muric (£4.4m) lined up between the sticks and caused more jitters with his distribution.
Liam Delap (£5.6m) was an unused substitute, so he’s nice and rested for Gameweek 21. His main deputy George Hirst (£5.4m) marked his return from a medium-term absence with a substitute appearance, while the even more peripheral Ali Al-Hamadi (£4.8m) had a rollercoaster afternoon: one ‘Fantasy assist’ for a rebound, one assist for a goal that should have been disallowed for offside (no VAR here) and a scuffed, missed penalty.
Kalvin Phillips (£4.8m) scored and shone – perhaps he’s found his level…
DIBLING AND SULEMANA UP TOP
Talking of finding levels, Southampton looked more at ease against Championship opposition.
Ivan Juric went the opposite way with his team selection, making only two alterations and arguably strengthening his team with the addition of ban-free Matheus Fernandes (£5.0m).
Juric, interestingly, opted for FPL midfielders Tyler Dibling (£4.5m) and Kamaldeen Sulemana (£5.0m) up top. Paul Onuachu (£4.9m) dropped to the bench.
Even more interestingly, it’s a position we can expect Dibling to feature in again based on Juric’s post-match words.
“I think that he’s really young and I think he cannot run too much. Sometimes it’s better that he’s playing forward and waited for the right moment like today and score the goal.
“I noticed that when he’s in the middle he had to defend a lot and then lose the energy. I think for him now at this moment it’s the best position.” – Ivan Juric on Tyler Dibling, via the Daily Echo
“This week we were working a lot with these three guys [including Fernandes] in the attack. They are really young, 20 or less, 18, 20 and 22. I think they are good friends, good relationship and they did very well today.” – Ivan Juric on the Dibling/Sulemana partnership, via the Daily Echo
Sulemana scored a superb lobbed opener before Dibling showed predatorial centre-forward instincts to score twice from in or around the six-yard box. The first was teed up by Sulemana.
Both budget FPL midfielders were taken off after 67 minutes, perhaps being preserved for Gameweek 21.
Jan Bednarek (£4.0m) handed Saints an injury scare when being replaced shortly after. Juric, however, says “it seems it’s okay” and added that it was good for Bednarek “to have 20 minutes to rest”.
