A total of seven Premier League clubs are in midweek EFL Cup action. Four of them contested ties on Tuesday evening: Manchester City, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
We’ll bring you up to speed with all you need to know from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, from minutes played and injuries to any wider talking points.
TUESDAY’S EFL CUP RESULTS
| OPPONENT | RESULT | GOALS | ASSISTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | v Wycombe Wanderers (a) | 2-1 win | Buendia, Duran | none |
| Chelsea | v Barrow (h) | 5-0 win | Nkunku (x3), own goal, Neto | Felix (x2), Gusto, Mudryk |
| Leicester City | v Walsall (a) | 0-0 draw (won on penalties) | none | none |
| Manchester City | v Watford (h) | 2-1 win | Doku, Nunes | Grealish, Lewis |
TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION
| STARTING XI CHANGES FROM GW5 | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACES (MINS) | OTHER MINS FOR SELECTED PLAYERS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 10 | Onana (62) | Duran (90), Bogarde (90), Nedeljkovic (90), Bailey (62), Ramsey (28) |
| Chelsea | 11 | – | Mudryk (90), Nkunku (76), Joao Felix (76), Neto (63), Gusto (45) |
| Leicester City | 10 | Okoli (90) | Ricardo (90), Fatawu (90), Buonanotte (80), Edouard (69), Skipp (10) |
| Manchester City | 9 | Walker (90), Doku (45) | Foden (90), Lewis (90), Stones (90), Grealish (90), Savinho (45), Gvardiol (14) |
MORE CUP GOALS FOR HAT-TRICK HERO NKUNKU
Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson‘s (£7.7m) fine start to the season continued with a couple of weekend goals at West Ham United. Unsurprisingly, his four goals and two assists have led to over 500,000 purchases this week and heavy consideration amongst Wildcard users.
Perhaps it’s silly to suggest his spot is in danger but Christopher Nkunku‘s (£6.1m) insistence on winding up former FPL owners keeps finding new levels. This hat-trick saw him finish off a delightful Joao Felix (£6.3m) scoop, backheel a Malo Gusto (£4.9m) cross at the near-post and rob Barrow’s goalkeeper of the ball.
Frenchman Nkunku is now on six goals from 330 minutes – where just 105 took place in the league.
With such an enormous supply of luxurious attacking talent to pick from, Blues boss Enzo Maresca could easily prefer Nkunku to Jackson on occasion.
“When you can decide which one to start with, it’s nice. And because they are in a good moment we can use them both. It could be they play together. The problem is our defensive balance because we can think of playing with Nicolas [Jackson], Christo [Nkunku], Joao [Felix], Cole [Palmer] and Noni [Madueke] – that’s fantastic – but then who is defending? Me?” – Enzo Maresca
Three of Jackson’s five Gameweeks have ended with a substitution before the 70-minute mark and that – plus a lack of penalties and trickier upcoming fixtures – could persuade managers to look elsewhere.
CHILWELL’S FIRST MINUTES
Tuesday also began Ben Chilwell‘s (£4.8m) redemption arc. Banished from Maresca’s bloated first-team squad as the club tried and failed to sell him, the left-back was recently registered in Chelsea’s Premier League squad.
And a half-time introduction ensured he’s now played his first minutes of 2024/25, albeit against a League Two side.
Gusto made his return from injury in this match and it was he who Chilwell replaced at the interval. Maresca confirmed it was a planned change.
“Yes, it was planned. In the first-half, Malo went inside on that side and in the second-half, we did the same but on the left side with Chilly inside. But it was planned already.
“[Chilwell was] very good. It was not easy for Chilly. He didn’t get any minutes this season but he has shown he is there, he is ready and working well. There is not any problem. If we have a chance, we will give him some more minutes in games.” – Enzo Maresca
Maresca made 11 changes from his Gameweek 5 line-up, affording rests to Jackson, Cole Palmer (£10.6m), Jadon Sancho (£6.3m), Noni Madueke (£6.6m) and Robert Sanchez (£4.6m). Unused from the bench was defender Levi Colwill (£4.5m). Expect another 11 alterations when facing Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
ROGERS REST + DURAN PENALTY
In fact – across these four matches – only four starters remained from Gameweek 5. Amadou Onana (£5.2m) was the sole survivor for Aston Villa in their win over Wycombe Wanderers.
This should mean that popular cheap midfielder Morgan Rogers (£5.2m) gets the nod at Ipswich Town. Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) and Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) also received a night off.
Summer signing Ian Maatsen (£4.9m) replaced Lucas Digne (£4.6m) at left-back and it was his cross that deflected off a defender onto Emiliano Buendia‘s (£5.3m) awkward looping header. A nice way to celebrate the injury victim’s first senior start for 16 months.
Meanwhile, the Jhon Duran (£6.1m) mystery keeps going. Has any FPL player ever started none of the first five league games, yet risen in price? He’s scored in four of five cameos that total 131 minutes and, naturally, netted here when handed all 90. After winning a penalty, he successfully dispatched it.
Centre-back Diego Carlos (£4.5m) picked up an injury in the warm-up and pulled out of the squad.
90-MINUTE FODEN USED AS FORWARD
Strangely, given the controversy of this Tuesday EFL Cup tie being just 48 hours after hosting Arsenal, Man City made the fewest line-up changes of these four.
Nine new names joined Kyle Walker (£5.3m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.4m), including 16yrs 183 days defender Kaden Braithwaite.
Those with Rico Lewis (£4.7m) will be encouraged to see right-back rival Walker play twice in a row, though the youngster joined him in lasting all 90 minutes. He tended to invert, getting involved in attacks and assisting the long-range Matheus Nunes (£4.9m) strike.
Maybe the more interesting Pep Guardiola decision was to use Phil Foden (£9.3m) as a false nine. Not that he had much choice, considering Julian Alvarez is no longer on the books and Erling Haaland (£15.3m) was away at a funeral. But the second-highest FPL scorer of 2023/24 now has a first start under his belt, meaning he could soon re-enter the Fantasy landscape.
Savinho (£6.5m) replaced goal-scoring Doku at half-time, plus defender Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) came on for 14 minutes.
Guardiola also confirmed that key midfielder Rodri (£6.4m) “will be out for a long time” with his knee injury.
VARDY/FAES UNUSED
Finally, an unconvincing Leicester performance at Walsall led to anti-Steve Cooper chants from fans – one of whom got onto the pitch.
But on a night when Jamie Vardy (£5.7m) was completely rested and Wout Faes (£4.1m) stayed on the bench, the Foxes were able to get the job done thanks to goalkeeper Danny Ward (£4.0m).
He saved all three penalties faced and a trio of team-mates netted theirs.
Centre-back Caleb Okoli (£4.0m) was the one name remaining from Gameweek 5.
