Six Premier League clubs were in EFL Cup action on Tuesday night – and we’ll be bringing you up to speed on the Fantasy talking points from each of their third-round ties.
We start, in this article, with Arsenal, Fulham and Ipswich Town.
The Gunners prevailed 4-2 in the all-Premier-League clash at Portman Road, while Alvaro Arbeloa’s side edged West Ham United by the odd goal in five.
All three top-flight teams rotated heavily, so as ever, takeaways from the Carabao Cup are less about what happened on the pitch than who didn’t feature and what was said off it.
RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists | Leading DefCons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | Ipswich Town (a) | 4-2 win | Dowman x2, Madueke, Merino | Eze, Merino, Zubimendi | Salmon (9) |
| Fulham | West Ham United (a) | 3-2 win | Muniz, Palacios, Bobb | Palacios, Andersen, King | Castagne (10) |
| Ipswich Town | Arsenal (h) | 2-4 loss | Mehmeti, Akpom | Clarke, Davis | Kipre (15), Greaves (13), Florentino (12), Mehmeti (11) |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW4 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 9 | Lewis-Skelly (90), Gabriel (45) | Arrizabalaga (90), Salmon (90), Merino (90), Dowman (90), Gyokeres (90), Zubimendi (85), Madueke (76), Eze (76), Guimaraes (64), Konsa (45), Julienne (26), Tzolis (14), Odegaard (14), Ibrahim (5) |
| Fulham | 9 | Castagne (90), Robinson (90) | Lecomte (90), Andersen (90), Cuenca (90), Palacios (90), Smith Rowe (69), Kevin (69), Muniz (68), Reed (63), Larsson (63), Angel (27), Charles (27), Garcia (22), King (21), Bobb (21) |
| Ipswich Town | 10 | Greaves (90) | Walton (90), Furlong (90), Kipre (90), Nunez (90), Mehmeti (90), Florentino (81), McAteer (69), Ouattara (68), Philogene (61), Flemming (61), Clarke (29), Akpom (29), Davis (22), Egeli (21), Lukic (9) |
SCOUT NOTES
ARSENAL
- There was no surprise that Mikel Arteta rotated his squad, with only two survivors from Saturday.
- Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.0m) was one; he came off at half-time, with Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) seeing out the second half. Don’t panic, though, Gabriel owners, as this was purely minute management.
“Yeah, that was planned.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Magalhaes’ half-time substitution
- The other player to keep their place was Myles Lewis-Skelly (£5.5m). Playing at left-back, rather than in central midfield, he lasted 90 minutes. That’s likely an indication that he’s going to drop out of the side in Gameweek 5, with Bruno Guimaraes (£6.7m) taking his place. Bruno replaced Lewis-Skelly at half-time on Saturday and was at the heart of Arsenal’s two goals on Wearside. The Brazilian midfielder did start this match at Ipswich, but he was the first man replaced, which is surely another pointer towards this weekend’s selection at the Amex.
- Unsurprisingly, Ben White (£5.5m) missed out after appearing to tweak his groin at the Stadium of Light. His positional rival, Jurrien Timber (£6.5m), didn’t feature either, but this was just Arteta wrapping up the injury-prone Dutchman in cotton wool:
“Everything is fine. Obviously, he has played much more than what we wanted the other day. He played 53 minutes after five months [out]. We need to look after him.” – Mikel Arteta on the absence of Jurrien Tumber
- Despite Arteta saying last Friday that he expected Cristhian Mosquera (£5.3m) to be involved in Gameweek 4 or the EFL Cup third round, the centre-back failed to appear in either game.
- A surprise absentee from Tuesday’s squad was Piero Hincapie (£5.3m). With Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) predictably rested, Lewis-Skelly was forced to take up left-back duties in Hincapie’s absence. Arteta was asked about Hincapie’s no-show ahead of kick-off, and talked in vague terms of “little issues”.
“With some players, as well, they were carrying some fatigue, some little issues that we have to look after. Other players were available, fresh and in better conditions to play.” – Mikel Arteta, when asked about the absence of Piero Hincapie
- Calafiori, Bukayo Saka (£9.5m) and Kai Havertz (£7.6m) remained unused on the visitors’ bench, while Christos Tzolis (£6.4m) and Martin Odegaard (£6.7m) had brief cameos as 76th-minute substitutes. David Raya (£6.0m) and Declan Rice (£7.4m) had the night off altogether.
- As for the on-field action, Max Dowman (£5.3m) was the star of the show. A superb jinking run preceded his opener, while his second goal of the night was a composed finish after some good close control. He’s yet to set foot on the field in the Premier League in 2026/27, however, and he’ll be back down among the substitutes at best in Gameweek 5.
“What we have to do is look after him – he’s 16 years old, you don’t see that in this league. In other leagues in Europe, that’s a totally different context. But in this league, with the demands that the league, the players and everything puts on you, we really need to make sure every time we throw him in, he’s in the right context with the right preparation, and that’s what we are trying to do.” – Mikel Arteta on Max Dowman
- The good news for Havertz and Tzolis owners is that Viktor Gyokeres (£7.2m) and Eberechi Eze (£6.3m) were fairly poor. Gyokeres in particular had a stinker, registering just one shot. Eze’s major contribution was the pass that set Dowman away for his opener.
- Noni Madueke (£6.2m) and Mikel Merino (£5.8m) were a lot better, adding goals as Arsenal raced into a 4-0 lead. Bruno was very good, too, playing major parts in two goals; his tackle led to Madueke’s strike, while it was from his deflected pass that Merino scored.
- Martin Zubimendi (£5.3m) deputised at right-back, and could be an option there this weekend if Timber and/or White are deemed unfit to start.
- No Arsenal player hit the DefCon threshold but Gabriel registered six contributions in just 45 minutes of action, so he was well on his way.
IPSWICH TOWN
- Gary O’Neil, likewise, rotated his regulars. Centre-half Jacob Greaves (£4.0m) was the only survivor from the weekend.
- Of the other 10 Gameweek 4 starters, we only saw Jack Clarke (£5.4m), Leif Davis (£4.0m) and Sasa Lukic (£5.0m) appear off the bench.
- Emersonn (£5.5m) didn’t feature, but that wasn’t a surprise. O’Neil had already said that he wouldn’t risk the Brazilian due to a tight quad.
- This wasn’t a ‘2-4’ game, really, nor did Ipswich really warrant going four goals down. The xG was 0.72-0.94, indeed!
- Zian Flemming (£5.5m), the match-winner at Palace, impressed up top, albeit without scoring and only registering a single shot. It’s a hell of a tussle between him and Emersonn for the centre-forward role, but the latter seems to have the edge for now.
“Still a bit to do with him on the understanding of the role, he’s probably behind [Emersonn] and Chuba [Akpom] in that. He’s obviously not been here as long, not had many training sessions. We’ve had a lot of games since he’s been here, so he hasn’t been around loads of the training work, so it’ll be good to get some of that into him.” – Gary O’Neil on Zian Flemming
- There was yet another attacking return for Davis, even though he only appeared as a substitute. From a marauding run forward, the left-back’s low cross was controlled and finished by Chuba Akpom (£5.0m).
- Left-winger Clarke looks set to start again in Gameweek 5, meanwhile. Impressive upon his introduction, he teed up Anis Mehmeti (£4.9m) for Ipswich’s first goal of the evening.
“I was really pleased with him tonight. I was pleased with him at Palace. I wouldn’t have changed him if he wasn’t on a yellow card and the referee hadn’t already sent off one of theirs. I thought it was a risk leaving him on. We’ll try and get him ready for the weekend because he’s in a good moment.
“I think he definitely improved us when he came on.” – Gary O’Neil on Jack Clarke
- Both Ipswich centre-backs hit the DefCon threshold, as did central midfielder Luis Florentino (£4.9m).
FULHAM
- More rotation here, with only the full-backs, Timothy Castagne (£4.5m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.5m), keeping their places. Even that was out of necessity, with Kenny Tete (£4.4m) concussed and Ryan Sessegnon (£4.4m) injured.
- Of the other nine Gameweek 4 starters, only Shea Charles (£5.0m), Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m), Josh King (£5.5m) and Oscar Bobb (£5.5m) appeared off the bench. The latter two combined for the winner, with Bobb latching onto King’s dispossession before finishing.
- After the surprise stalemate at Anfield on Saturday, the resumption of normal Fulham service! The five-goal thriller featured four big chances apiece, and the xG finished 1.63-2.48. Lots of exciting attacking play from the Cottagers, but a bit ropey at the back, which was more in keeping with what we saw in Gameweeks 1-3. Much-changed XIs from both sides, of course, no doubt contributed to the chaotic feeling of the game.
- Cesar Palacios (£5.4m) lost his place in Gameweek 4, failing to even appear off the bench against Liverpool, but he responded very well here with a goal and an assist. First crossing for Rodrigo Muniz (£5.4m) to head in, he then latched onto a long Joachim Andersen (£5.0m) pass to coolly finish. No player on show finished with more shots (four), chances created (two) or expected goal involvement (1.59) to their name than Palacios. He was a real livewire down the left, and should have scored again late on when rounding the ‘keeper and firing wide.
AA: “Cesar had a very good game, good assist, good goal. He could have scored one or two more goals, and young players, like we have so many young players with talent, and we need to be patient with them, and I think we need to help them, to develop them. But you can see the…
— Jack Kelly (@jackellyffc) September 15, 2026
- Fulham were twice pegged back before eventually prevailing. First conceding from a set piece, sloppy defending allowed West Ham a second equaliser just before half-time. The hosts missed with another close-range chance from a corner, while Taty Castellanos somehow failed to score with the goal gaping late on. Not convincing defensively, then, but this was, admittedly, a glorified reserve team.
