The main Fantasy talking point from the midweek EFL Cup fourth-round ties was the progress of Crystal Palace – and the brief possibility of a Blank Gameweek 17, which may now have been extinguished.
As for the rest of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) implications, our Scout Notes will cover those.
There were 11 Premier League teams in action across Tuesday and Wednesday, so we’ll split our reports across three articles.
In this one, we focus on Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and Brentford.
TUESDAY + WEDNESDAY RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) | 4-3 loss | Santos, George, Estêvão, Gittens | Gittens x2, Santos, Hato |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Chelsea (h) | 3-4 loss | Arokodare, Møller Wolfe x2 | Hwang Hee-Chan, Agbadou x2 |
| Brentford | Grimsby Town (a) | 5-0 win | Jensen, Lewis-Potter, Nelson, Carvalho pen, Collins | Lewis-Potter, Nelson, Carvalho, Jensen |
| Fulham | Wycombe Wanderers (a) | 1-1 draw (won 5-4 on pens) | King | Kevin |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW9 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 10 | Acheampong (90) | Jorgensen (90), Tosin (90), Hato (90), Andrey Santos (90), Gittens (90), Gusto (60), Lavia (60), Estevao (60), Buonanotte (85), George (76), Cucurella (30), Enzo (30), Delap (25), Neto (14), Caicedo (5) |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 11 | – | Sa (90), Tchatchoua (90), Moller Wolfe (90), Mosquera (90), Toti (90), Agbadou (90), Joao Gomes (90), Arokodare (81), Hwang (68), Lopez (45), Krejci (45), Munetsi (45), Rodrigo Gomes (26), Strand Larsen (22), Doherty (19), Bellegarde (9) |
| Brentford | 9 | Van den Berg (60), Ouattara (60) | Valdimarsson (90), Henry (90), Pinnock (90), Jensen (90), Carvalho (90), Lewis-Potter (90), Arthur (71), Onyeka (68), Nelson (68), Schade (30), Collins (30), Janelt (22), Donovan (22), Kayode (19) |
| Fulham | 7 | Bassey (90), Diop (90), Adama (90), Raul (74) | Lecomte (90), Castagne (90), King (90), Kevin (90), Reed (71), Cairney (65), Cuenca (45), Sessegnon (45), Iwobi (25), Lukic (19), Kusi-Asare (16) |
DELAP RETURNS FROM INJURY… AND PICKS UP A RED CARD
There’s no chance of Liam Delap (£6.2m) eating into the game-time of Joao Pedro (£7.5m) or Marc Guiu (£4.2m) this weekend. Delap returned from injury as a second-half substitute on Wednesday but his comeback was curtailed after 25 minutes, with the striker dismissed for two bookable offences.
Enzo Maresca was not happy.
“It’s embarrassing when it’s a red card like today. Because it’s two yellow cards in five minutes, 10 minutes, I don’t know, seven minutes. Both I think we can avoid that. So it’s not good.”
“After the yellow card, I told him four or five times to keep calm. But Liam is a player that, when he’s inside the pitch, probably he’ll be playing the game for himself and he struggles to realise and to listen around him.” – Enzo Maresca on Liam Delap
Delap will miss Gameweek 10, then, but his return from injury is obviously a medium-term blow to Guiu’s game-time hopes. It’s another rotation option for Pedro, too, although as we’ve seen in recent weeks, having another body up top can aid the Brazilian.
(ALMOST) ALL CHANGE – RESTS FOR ENZO, PEDRO, GUIU + MORE
A recurring theme throughout this article is ‘reserve’ sides being sent out by the Premier League clubs in the EFL Cup.
That was certainly the case at Molineux, with 21 starting XI changes across the two sides. Josh Acheampong (£3.9m) was the only survivor for the Blues.
Pedro and Reece James (£5.5m) were unused substitutes, while Guiu and Trevoh Chalobah (£5.1m) weren’t in the squad at all. Tyrique George (£4.9m) led the line before Delap’s introduction.
Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m), Moises Caicedo (£5.9m), Marc Cucurella (£6.1m) and Pedro Neto (£7.0m) had mere cameos, meanwhile.
Good news for owners of most of Chelsea’s key players, then, ahead of Gameweek 10.
GITTENS MAKES HIS CASE
The wholesale changes and some bonkers tactics – centre-half Emmanuel Agbadou (£4.4m) and winger Fer Lopez (£5.3m) in central midfield for Wolves – resulted in a chaotic match.
The hosts were shambolic in the first half as Chelsea raced into a 3-0 lead, while it was the Blues’ turn to look wobbly after the break as a flapping Filip Jörgensen (£4.4m) and his defence struggled with Wolves’ direct play.
“I think we are improving our offensive process because we are scoring goals. Larsen is in a better level because now he is training without pain. Tolu is coming. Channy, for me, plays very well. Defensively, we need to improve our level because the way that we concede the three goals in the first half, we can’t do it. In this league, it’s impossible.” – Vitor Pereira
Jamie Gittens (£6.1m) has had a tough start to life at Chelsea but he was a stand-out on Wednesday. Fine footwork and an inviting cross led to goals for Andrey Santos (£4.5m) and George respectively, while he scored a superb goal himself – a touch of the Pape Cisses – to make it 4-2. Can he kickstart his career with this performance?
Outrageous volley! 😱#CFC | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/6pT8bHPlhW
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 30, 2025
Estevao (£6.5m) scored a fine chip in between Gittens’ returns but back came Wolves, with forward Tolu Arokodare (£5.5m) finishing well and left-back David Moller Wolfe (£4.4m) twice popping up in the area to give the hosts some hope.
A manic game between two sets of players who mostly won’t be troubling the starting XIs on Saturday.
RAUL CONCERN AS KING SCORES
Having been benched in Gameweek 9 (for the first time in the league this season), Josh King (£4.5m) was back in the Cottagers’ XI on Tuesday night.
FPL’s most-owned Fulham player lined up in his usual ’10’ role and, finally, bagged his first senior club goal, brilliantly flicking in Kevin‘s (£6.0m) corner.
He’s not getting this one taken off him. 😤
Josh King’s first senior goal. 🤍 pic.twitter.com/BLRPzAL3kw
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) October 28, 2025
There could have been other returns, too. The budget midfielder’s excellent pressing saw him win possession and tee up Tom Cairney (£4.9m) for a good first-half chance, before King himself screwed wide with a big opportunity following a brilliant spin late on.
The teenager finished with four shots and two key passes to his name. While he lasted the full 90 minutes in a chiefly reserve XI here (not ideal immediately before a league game), the fact that his Gameweek 9 replacement, Emile Smith Rowe (£5.7m), was out injured hopefully bodes well for his game-time prospects this weekend.
The lively, if profligate, Kevin won on the underlying numbers front: seven shots and five chances created from his right-wing berth. He saw one of his efforts cleared off the line late on.
Injuries haven’t helped the Fulham cause of late, with Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) again absent here.
There are more concerns up top, too, with Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) signalling to the bench to come off after 74 minutes against Wycombe.
Silva on Raul: “That is another thing that we have to wait a bit more. He felt something again on the side that was the reason why he came out vs Villa & he was out 2-3 games. Let’s see in the next few days how he’s going to be, see if he’s going to be ready for Saturday.” #FFC https://t.co/nzeeBzKV0n
— Jack Kelly (@jackellyffc) October 29, 2025
Marco Silva’s side should have had this game won before their penalty shootout victory, outshooting their hosts 21-6. Wycombe’s only effort on target was Cauley Woodrow’s long-distance, fourth-minute goal.
Fulham eventually prevailed 5-4 on penalties; King wasn’t among the seven takers for the Cottagers.
THIAGO RESTED + CARVALHO TAKES PEN
Given that this was, in all intents and purposes, a Brentford ‘B’ side winning at Grimsby, there aren’t too many takeaways from Tuesday’s 5-0 rout at Blundell Park.
The only two survivors from the Gameweek 9 XI, Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) and Dango Ouatarra (£6.0m), even had their minutes managed, coming off on the hour.
Ouattara led the line for the Bees, with Kevin Schade (£7.0m) taking over after the 60th minute. That allowed Keith Andrews to completely rest the in-form Igor Thiago (£6.2m).
Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.8m) and Jordan Henderson (£5.0m) were among the others having nights off. No danger of the regulars being pooped for the Gameweek 10 trip to Crystal Palace, then.
Four of the players coming into the side, Mathias Jensen (£4.9m), Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.9m), Reiss Nelson (£4.8m) and Fabio Carvalho (£4.9m), all scored and assisted.
Jensen and Nelson both curled in from the edge of the area, with the ‘out of position’ Lewis-Potter (playing on the right wing) nodding home in between those goals. Carvalho later won and converted a penalty, with regular taker Thiago off the field, before substitute Nathan Collins (£4.9m) headed in a Jensen corner.
A breeze for the Bees, then, with Grimsby game but producing little of quality with their six efforts.
