How the FA Cup semi-finals may also impact on Double Gameweek 32

Watford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals over the weekend.

Those four clubs’ quarter-final victories ensured that they would blank in Gameweek 33 and increased the likelihood of these sides having Double Gameweeks in 32 and 35 (this was already confirmed in Wolves’ case).

We will cover City in their own Scout Notes piece tomorrow and instead focus on the other three Premier League teams to make it through to the last four of the FA Cup in this article.

While we stress that we are yet to hear official word from the Premier League regarding the full Double Gameweek picture, we know already that Wolves will face Burnley (a) and Manchester United (h) in Gameweek 32.

A fixture announcement from Spurs yesterday means that Brighton may well face Chelsea (a) in Gameweek 32, along with their already-scheduled match against Southampton (h).

The Seagulls’ match against Cardiff (h) also remains outstanding.

Watford face Manchester United (a) in the first Gameweek back after the international break and could then have a midweek fixture against Southampton (h) or Fulham (h) to go with it.

Again, this is educated guesswork at present and will hopefully be confirmed in the next few days.

While it looks likely that Watford and Brighton will join Wolves in having a Double Gameweek 32, it is worth considering just how appealing the Fantasy assets are from these three clubs.

The FA Cup semi-finals take place just a few days after the proposed second fixture in Gameweek 32 and would perhaps throw into doubt just how strong a side Wolves and Watford in particular would name in a midweek Premier League game, given that those two clubs meet at Wembley on the weekend of April 6/7.

Brighton are, of course, embroiled in a relegation scrap and Chris Hughton would surely be averse to making wholesale changes with their Premier League status still in the balance.

Whether the likes of veteran Glenn Murray (£6.3m) would start three matches in the space of a week is open to debate, however.

Wolves and Watford, comfortably sitting in seventh and eighth in the Premier League table, might be a different proposition.

Gracia rested seven players for the trip to Manchester City in Gameweek 30, sparking speculation that he was sparing players for Saturday’s quarter-final against Crystal Palace.

The Watford boss said at the time:

If I have to take my decision again, I will do it the same way. I’ve chosen for this game these players, it’s because before the game I thought we needed fresh legs to compete today to defend well and run a lot.

We have lost the game [but] in my opinion we’ve competed well against a very good team and now we can focus on the FA Cup, we will try to get a good result and try to carry on in that competition.

In this moment, we have 26 players available and all of them deserve to play. 

The fact that Gracia currently has a fully-fit squad to choose from would surely only increase the risk of rotation in the likely Double Gameweek 32.

Wolves perhaps haven’t quite got the same depth of squad as the Hornets but Nuno Espirito Santo has demonstrated recently that he is not averse to making changes when the fixture congestion kicks in.

The Wolves boss rested four of his “midfield five” – including wing-backs Matt Doherty (£5.4m) and Jonny (£4.3m) – in the 2-0 win over Cardiff in Gameweek 29, which was the third of three games that his side contested in the space of a week.

Santo explained his thinking after that win over the Bluebirds:

It’s a short squad, a very short squad of 16 [outfield] players, so credit to them as they prepare themselves for the moment the chance comes.

I think it is our job to prepare the squad well, so we’re always able to choose a strong XI.

When you have a tough cycle of games in a week, the third one is the one we believe requires some attention.

Although the “third” game after the international break will be the FA Cup semi-final, it could be that Santo instead chooses to tinker with his starting XI in one of the two preceding league matches with one eye on the trip to Wembley.

While Raul Jimenez (£6.8m) played all three of Wolves’ fixtures in Gameweeks 27-29, he had previously been benched at the back-end of a similar run in Gameweek 16.

Santo could again choose to keep cup specialist John Ruddy (£4.2m) ticking over with an appearance in Double Gameweek 32, meanwhile, as he did against Cardiff a fortnight ago.

All of this could potentially bode well for Fantasy assets whose teams play Wolves and Watford in Double Gameweek 32 – namely Manchester United, who face both.

The likes of Paul Pogba (£8.9m), Marcus Rashford (£7.6m) and Romelu Lukaku (£10.8m) have an eight-day break between their second Gameweek 32 fixture (Wolves away) and their Champions League quarter-final tie against Barcelona, so rotation wouldn’t quite be of the same concern.

The rest of this article quickly recaps the events of Brighton, Wolves and Watford’s FA Cup quarter-finals.

Wolves 2-1 Manchester United

• Goals: Raul Jimenez (£6.8m), Diogo Jota (£6.1m) | Marcus Rashford (£7.6m)
• Assists: Ruben Neves (£4.9m) | Luke Shaw (£5.1m)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Manchester United produced the “poorest performance” of his short tenure as his side bowed out of the FA Cup at Molineux.

The Norwegian said:

It was a big step backwards. That’s the poorest performance since I’ve come here. The lack of urgency going forward, lack of forward passing, lack of regains.

Last week [against Arsenal] we were happy with the performance. We got what we deserved today because we never deserved to win this game.

Sometimes international breaks come in handy and we would have loved to play it again and put it right.

Hopefully some of them will have good experience with the national team, some will have a few days off and train hard here.

Then we will be ready to push again because we’re in a great position in the league, we’re in the Champions League.

United, missing the in-form Romelu Lukaku (£10.8m) because of a foot injury, were toothless in attack, with Marcus Rashford (£7.6m) too often choosing the selfish option in possession and Paul Pogba (£8.9m) well below his usual standards.

A long-distance effort from Rashford in the first half was the Red Devils’ only shot on target before the England forward scored a stoppage-time consolation.

Sergio Romero (£4.9m) was one of the few United players to have emerged from the game with any credit, having kept his side in the game in the second half with a number of key saves.

Solskjaer at least welcomed back a number of first-teamers from injury, with Ander Herrera (£5.0m) and Jesse Lingard (£6.7m) starting and Juan Mata (£6.1m) appearing off the bench.

Anthony Martial (£7.2m), who didn’t look himself and who didn’t register a single shot or key pass at Molineux, was subsequently revealed to have picked up a knee injury and dropped out of the France squad.

An official FFF statement said:

Anthony Martial is suffering from recurring problems in the right knee. He again felt severe pain in his right knee after Saturday’s match against Wolverhampton.

Victor Lindelof (£5.1m) was omitted from the Sweden squad for “personal reasons”, meanwhile.

Wolves were excellent, particularly in the second half.

Diogo Jota (£6.1m) had earlier spurned a chance from a Matt Doherty (£5.4m) cross before wasting the best opportunity of the first half, firing straight at Romero after being set free by Ruben Neves (£4.9m).

The hosts ramped up the pressure after the break, with Romero tipping over a Joao Moutinho (£5.3m) drive and producing a superb stop to push Raul Jimenez‘s (£6.8m) goalbound header onto the bar.

Jimenez lashed in Wolves’ opener with 20 minutes to go after a spot of penalty box pinball, before Jota shrugged off Luke Shaw (£5.1m) to double the hosts’ lead on the break.

Jimenez and Jota may have grabbed the headlines but there wasn’t a bad performance in the Wolves side, with their back three comfortably dealing with United’s attack and Moutinho and Neves excelling in central midfield.

Moutinho, indeed, registered seven key passes.

Santo said of his side’s display:

In the first half, we defended very well. We were very organised and very compact. We allowed them to have possession of the ball but tried to recover in the right areas. We were well organised and the shape worked very well.

In the second half, we were much better with the ball, we had possession and created some problems for them with our movement.

Wolves XI (3-4-3): Ruddy, Saiss, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny; Jota (Traore 87′), Jimenez (Costa 90′).

Manchester United XI (4-3-3): Romero; Dalot, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw; Herrera (Pereira 71′), Matic (Mata 86′), Pogba; Lingard (McTominay 86′), Rashford, Martial. 

Millwall 2-2 Brighton and Hove Albion (4-5 penalties)

• Goals: Jurgen Locadia (£5.3m), Solly March (£4.8m)
• Assists: None

Chris Hughton hailed the contribution of his substitutes after Brighton rescued victory from the jaws of defeat the Den on Sunday.

Trailing 2-0 after 88 minutes, the Seagulls were on the verge of a cup exit (and a Premier League fixture in Blank Gameweek 33) before two goals from Jurgen Locadia (£5.3m) and Solly March (£4.8m) forced the match into extra-time and then penalties.

Hughton said:

At that stage of the game, we were going to have a lot of possession. When you’re a home team leading the game, the inclination is to protect your lead.

We knew we’d have a lot of the ball, but you need moments. Solly’s introduction changed the emphasis of the game a little bit and gave us more in the final third, and the same with Jose [Izquierdo].

Anthony Knockaert (£5.2m) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£6.7m) have started Brighton’s last three competitive matches on the flanks but both wingers were withdrawn in the second half on Sunday, with Jahanbahksh in particular ineffective down the Brighton left.

The impact of March was especially telling, while Locadia was used on the left of a front three in the first two months of 2019 and – along with Jose Izquierdo (£5.9m) – is another name to add into Brighton’s attacking midfield mix as we approach Double Gameweek 32.

March’s darting run down the right led to Locadia lashing in Brighton’s first goal before March himself got on the scoresheet when his overhit free-kick sailed through the grasp of Millwall goalkeeper David Martin just before full-time.

Albion were perhaps fortunate to force extra time as they had offered little in the way of serious goal threat until late in the second half, with Glenn Murray (£6.3m) not getting much of a sniff all day and indeed missing in the shootout.

Beram Kayal (£4.4m) had the best of Brighton’s chances before their late revival, forcing Martin into three fairly unremarkable saves.

The fact that substitutes Izquierdo, March and Locadia had five of Brighton’s other six shots on target said much about their threat for the best part of normal time but Albion fans would point out they perhaps should have a penalty for a foul on Shane Duffy (£4.7m) and that they then had Murray blocked off in the lead-up to Millwall’s first goal.

Locadia was denied a perfectly legitimate goal in extra-time, too, when Martin Montoya (£4.3m) was erroneously flagged for offside.

The Lions had the better of the chances before Alex Pearce nodded in a 70th-minute corner, with Lee Gregory looping a shot onto the roof of the net and then firing straight at Mathew Ryan (£4.5m) when through on goal.

Aiden O’Brien doubled Millwall’s lead with little over ten minutes remaining and Brighton’s defenders didn’t instil a great deal of confidence for those Fantasy managers looking at the likes of Duffy and Lewis Dunk (£4.4m) for the Double Gameweeks to come – though Duffy’s prominence at dead-ball situations continues to catch the eye.

Brighton and Hove Albion XI (4-3-3): Ryan; Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bernardo; Stephens, Propper, Kayal (Izquierdo 73′); Knockaert (Locadia 73′), Murray, Jahanbakhsh (March 67′).

Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace

• Goals: Etienne Capoue (£4.8m), Andre Gray (£5.9m)| Michy Batshuayi (£6.5m)
• Assists: Craig Cathcart (£4.5m), Roberto Pereyra (£6.0m) | None

Roy Hodgson provided an update on Wilfried Zaha (£6.9m) after his side crashed out of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

The Ivory Coast winger was missing with a hamstring complaint and Hodgson said:

Well you never know with hamstring injuries and strains, you have to be very careful especially with players as explosive as Wilf is. 

He felt it after the Brighton game and didn’t train during the week, we took him out on Thursday just to test it slightly under controlled conditions but it was pretty obvious that it would have been an enormous risk to play in the game today and risk a much more serious injury.

With the two weeks coming up now we can only hope that he will recover in time for when we play our next game.

He’s an outstanding player and I don’t think when you take players of that quality out of a team you’re not going to be able to say you didn’t miss them.

Mamadou Sakho (£4.9m) was again absent after having knee surgery and Hodgson said that both the centre-back and Zaha were “difficult to replace”:

During the season I think we’ve been playing reasonably well and those periods have been with Wilf and Mamadou Sakho. They are two difficult players to replace and quality is very hard to replace.

The quality of Sakho and Zaha whenever you go into a game without them you’re going to miss them, you can only hope that the guys who get their chance in place of those players can take the opportunity and play well themselves.

Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m) was unexpectedly absent from Palace’s matchday squad, meanwhile, with no details provided of any injury the Dutch defender may have.

Jeffrey Schlupp (£4.5m) was therefore deployed at left-back but it was the performance of Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) that caught the eye on the opposite flank.

The young right-back produced a couple of teasing deliveries before setting up a chance for Max Meyer (£5.5m) just before half-time, while he went close to scoring his first ever senior goal late on when flashing a shot just wide.

Wan-Bissaka also made a crucial block to deny Gerard Deulofeu (£5.6m) late on as he continues to impress from a defensive perspective.

Michy Batshuayi (£6.5m) scored in his third straight away match for Palace after capitalising on an error from Adrian Mariappa (£4.2m) and would be an interesting differential forward option should the Eagles be given a Double Gameweek 32, particularly as one of their fixtures is a match against Huddersfield Town (albeit at home, where Palace have struggled).

Vicente Guaita (£4.2m) wasn’t quite so impressive though, flapping at a number of crosses and being caught in no man’s land when Etienne Capoue (£4.8m) turned in a 27th-minute corner.

Palace’s goalkeeping situation looks as uncertain as ever going into the season run-in and Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) will fancy his chances of a recall after seeing his positional rival make a pig’s ear of several deliveries on Sunday.

Andre Gray (£5.9m) came off the bench to grab Watford’s winner after a superb pass from the improved Roberto Pereyra (£6.0m) and the Hornets’ super-sub continues to make a strong case for inclusion in Javi Gracia’s starting XI: this was his third goal as a substitute in five competitive matches.

Who Gray replaces is another question, though, with Troy Deeney (£5.9m) in commanding form and Deulofeu providing plenty of menace as he buzzes around the Watford captain.

All four of Deulofeu’s shots on Saturday were on target, with Guaita making a fine one-handed stop to prevent the best of the ex-Everton midfielder’s efforts from creeping inside the near post.

Gracia indeed had all three of his main striking assets on the field in the final quarter of an hour, with Deulofeu moving back to the right flank to allow Gray to play alongside Deeney.

The Watford boss said:

It’s not a surprise [that Gray scored] because he’s doing it in the last games, he always has chances to score and he’s finishing very well.

It was a difficult decision because the game was open but to take off Will [Hughes] and put Gerard on the right and Andre up front with Troy – it was good for the team.

Jose Holebas (£4.8m) came off at half-time of this encounter, meanwhile, after taking a knock to his foot.

Watford XI (4-4-2): Gomes; Femenia, Mariappa, Cathcart, Holebas (Masina 45′); Hughes (Gray 77′), Capoue, Doucoure, Pererya; Deeney, Deulofeu (Cleverley 89′).

Crystal Palace XI (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Kelly, Schlupp; Kouyate, Milivojevic; McArthur (Benteke 84′), Meyer, Townsend; Batshuayi.