We continue to rattle through the Fantasy talking points from Wednesday’s EFL Cup ties.
This time, we look back on Liverpool 0-3 Crystal Palace and Newcastle United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur.
You can read about the possible implications (or lack thereof!) for Palace’s victory on Gameweek 17 here.
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | Crystal Palace (h) | 0-3 loss | – | – |
| Crystal Palace | Liverpool (a) | 3-0 win | Sarr x2, Pino | Pino, Lerma |
| Newcastle United | Tottenham Hotspur (h) | 2-0 win | Schar, Woltemade | Tonali, Willock |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Newcastle United (a) | 0-2 loss | – | – |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW9 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 10 | Kerkez (90) | Woodman (90), Gomez (90), Endo (90), Ramsay (90), Nyoni (90), Chiesa (90), Ngumoha (86), Morrison (67), Robertson (67), Mac Allister (67), Gordon (23), Wellity Lucky (23), Nallo (12), Kone-Doherty (4) |
| Crystal Palace | 5 | Guehi (90), Lacroix (90), Kamada (90), Pino (90), Munoz (74), Sarr (62) | Benitez (90), Canvot (90), Sosa (83), Hughes (74), Nketiah (45), Mateta (45), Devenny (28), Lerma (16), Cardines (16), Uche (7) |
| Newcastle United | 8 | Thiaw (90), Burn (90), Woltemade (71) | Ramsdale (90), Schar (90), Tonali (90), Barnes (90), Krafth (71), Willock (71), Elanga (89), Ramsey (80), Trippier (19), Joelinton (19), Osula (19), Bruno G (10), Gordon (1) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | Danso (90), Palhinha (90), Porro (90), Spence (90), Xavi (90), Bentancur (65), Johnson (65) | Kinsky (90), Bergvall (90), Sarr (90), Richarlison (71), Kolo Muani (25), Kudus (25), Tel (12) |
NKETIAH INJURY – A GOOD THING FOR MATETA OR NOT?
The most-bought forward of Gameweek 10, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m), seemed to come through Wednesday’s win at Anfield unscathed. Even better: he had 45 minutes off as Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) got the nod up front. Relief for those who moved early for the Frenchman, then.
And wouldn’t you know it, now Nketiah is injured again.
“Just one negative aspect: Eddie Nketiah unfortunately got injured with his hamstring again, but everything else worked how we scheduled it.” – Oliver Glasner
Nketiah’s injury could be painted as a positive, as it’s one less positional rival to fret about. But was he that much of a threat anyway? Mateta is an ever-present league starter, and on only one occasion this season has Nketiah come on for him during a Premier League game. On four other occasions, the former Arsenal striker has replaced a Palace midfielder in the second half.
Instead, Nketiah has been used to alleviate Mateta’s workload in midweek, be it in the UEFA Conference League against Dynamo Kyiv or on Wednesday on Merseyside. Could Nketiah’s absence, if there is one, actually be more of a disadvantage to Mateta domestically, due to the added strain on midweek nights?
We’ll find out from Glasner on Friday the extent of Nketiah’s latest issue.
ISAK TO MISS OUT AGAIN?
Speaking in the aftermath of Wednesday’s presser, Arne Slot seemed to suggest that Alexander Isak (£10.4m) was going to be doubtful again for Gameweek 10.
When asked about his injured contingent, the Liverpool boss said that Ryan Gravenberch (£5.6m) had the “best chance” of recovering – which raises obvious question marks about Isak’s fitness status.
“I think Ryan has a good chance. The other ones are going to be… let’s wait and see tomorrow and Friday. I don’t know [about] all of them but I think Ryan has the best chance from all of them.” – Arne Slot on his injured players
We won’t have to wait long for an update, with Slot due to face the media on Friday at 9am.
SLOT HOISTS THE WHITE FLAG WITH LINE-UP
This is one Liverpool loss that probably shouldn’t count towards the current worrying run of defeats, as it was effectively the reserves facing Palace. Ten changes from Gameweek 9, with all 10 rested players not even on the bench. Complete midweek breathers for the likes of Mohamed Salah (£14.3m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.5m), then.
Only Milos Kerkez (£5.8m) survived, and the fact that he got 90 minutes suggests he might be among the substitutes against Aston Villa.
Despite a promising early start, with Rio Ngumoha (£4.5m) looking lively and, centre-forward for the day, Federico Chiesa (£6.4m) spurning two decent chances, it was soon men against boys. The Reds only had one shot on target all game, indeed.
Slot pretty much admitted after full-time that he had sacrificed this EFL Cup tie to freshen his regulars up for Gameweek 10.
“If I look at our performance against Brentford, to use that as an example, two days after we played [Eintracht] Frankfurt away, I saw there a team that maybe struggled with playing three games in seven days. Again, not an excuse to lose that game of football, but it is not a complete surprise to me if I see some of the struggles some players have had in pre-season and players that came from different leagues and it is a new challenge for them to play at Premier League and Champions League level in three games in seven days.” – Arne Slot
SARR BRACE
Palace took advantage of their understrength hosts, with Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m) scoring twice and Yeremy Pino (£5.8m) rounding off the scoring late on.
This was probably Pino’s best game in a Palace shirt, with the Spaniard creating a game-high five chances and assisting Sarr’s second strike. What a move it was, too.
Football, just pure football…
Powered by @SunExpress Airlines 🛫 pic.twitter.com/wi9eR5raD8
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 29, 2025
Sarr does love facing Liverpool: he had five shots in all here. Half of his 18 efforts and four of his six goals from the Community Shield onwards have come in three meetings with the Reds!
ANOTHER WOLTEMADE GOAL + THIAW’S SET-PIECE THREAT
Another game, another goal for Nick Woltemade (£7.5m). It’s six goals in nine starts for the German in all competitions, and another goal with his head – aerial ability isn’t meant to be his strength!
The German was one of just three Newcastle players to keep their place from Gameweek 9, although an early-ish withdrawal should ensure there are no concerns about starting him on Sunday. The twinkle-toed striker almost had an assist to his name, too, teeing up Harvey Barnes (£6.4m) after a brilliant bit of play just outside the Spurs area.
One of the other players to keep their place, the quietly impressive Malick Thiaw (£4.9m), showcased his own attacking threat from set plays. He squared a recycled set piece across for Barnes to hit the bar, while the centre-half had two efforts of his own from dead-ball deliveries.
He’s had at least one shot in each of the last four Gameweeks, too.
Newcastle did get success from a corner, with the excellent Sandro Tonali (£5.4m) crossing for Fabian Schar (£5.4m) to head in. Six of the Magpies’ 10 shots on the night came from set plays.
Remember that Newcastle’s next opponent is West Ham, the side with the worst defensive record from set pieces in 2025/26.
“It’s something we’ve worked really hard on lately in our game and I think we have the height and power to cause teams problems.” – Eddie Howe on set plays
SPURS NOT BAD, NOT GREAT
Spurs have had a funny old season in that they’re sitting third in the Premier League but without setting the world alight with their performances. Perhaps this is just the new Thomas Frank order: solid but not spectacular.
Their display on Tyneside pretty much summed up their campaign so far: not outstanding, but not bad either.
Wednesday was a game of fine margins, with Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m) forced into fine saves from Xavi Simons (£6.8m), Pape Matar Sarr (£4.9m) and Richarlison (£6.5m). A couple of crosses flashed tantalisingly untouched across the Newcastle six-yard box. Would Schar have scored had Djed Spence (£4.5m) had extra time to get to his feet? Would Woltemade have found the net had Guglielmo Vicario (£5.1m) been in goal and not the flapping Antonin Kinsky (£3.9m)?
“I think it was one of our better offensive performances for the season. You could say it was not like we created five hundred percent chances, but we created some really big chances.” – Thomas Frank
Spurs made fewer changes than Newcastle, just four, but key men Vicario, Micky van de Ven (£4.7m) and Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m) were rested. So too was Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m), with Richarlison turning in another so-so display up front. Frank undeniably has it worse than Eddie Howe in terms of injuries, and perhaps it was the difference on the night, with Newcastle able to call upon better options in reserve.
“He had a smaller thing that had to be done but he’ll be ready for Chelsea.” – Thomas Frank on Guglielmo Vicario’s absence
