We’ve already discussed the Blank Gameweek 34 implications from Saturday’s two FA Cup quarter-final ties but there are plenty more talking points besides that from those games.
New injuries, old injuries, returning players and Gameweek 30 targets – there’s much to dissect from Fulham v Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion v Nottingham Forest.
FA CUP: SATURDAY’S RESULTS
| Goals | Assists | |
|---|---|---|
| Fulham 0-3 Crystal Palace | Eze, Sarr, Nketiah | Mitchell, Eze, Kamada |
| Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Nottingham Forest (Forest win 4-3 on pens) | – | – |
LINE-UPS
Fulham XI: Leno, Castagne, Anderson, Bassey, Robinson (Sessegnon 69), Berge, Lukić (Traoré 62), Pereira (Smith Rowe 62), Iwobi (Cairney 82), Willian (Jimenez 69), Muniz.
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Richards, Guéhi, Lacroix, Muñoz (Clyne 86), Mitchell, Lerma, Wharton (Kamada 69), Eze (França 90), Sarr (Devenny 86), Mateta (Nketiah 69).
Brighton and Hove Albion XI: Verbruggen, Hinshelwood, van Hecke, Webster (Dunk 90), Estupinan, Minteh, Ayari (Gomez 80), Baleba, Mitoma (Adingra 72), Rutter (Gruda 75), Welbeck (Joao Pedro 72).
Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Yates, Anderson, Dominguez (Jota Silva 96), Gibbs-White (Morato 120), Danilo (Hudson-Odoi 61), Awoniyi (Elanga 61).
WOOD “NOT GOOD”
We knew in advance of the clash at the Amex that Chris Wood (£7.3m) wouldn’t be involved.
The Forest forward injured his hip in New Zealand’s win over New Caledonia last week and was subsequently ruled out of the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The next question: will he return in Gameweek 30? Nuno Espirito Santo’s latest comments, in the aftermath of Saturday’s match, didn’t sound too good.
“Not good. So let’s wait and see. It’s going to be day by day. We have to assess him. It’s all about the pain that he has. It was a big impact on his hip, it’s very painful. So we have to assess him, but we are gutted that Chris is not here with us.
“I cannot answer [when he’ll be back]. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not sure. It’s going to be day by day.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Chris Wood
“Not very good, not very good. We miss him and hope that he can join us soon.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Chris Wood, to BBC Radio Nottingham
GIBBS-WHITE ALSO A CONCERN
Another possible concern for Tuesday’s clash with Manchester United is the equally influential Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.6m).
With Saturday’s cup tie drifting towards penalties, it was a surprise to see Gibbs-White taken off just before the end of extra time.
It was, however, an enforced change.
“We’re going to assess him. He had a big contact against the post. His leg was not okay. He was struggling and in the final minutes, it was all about Brighton. You saw how we suffered. We were against the ropes. Brighton was on top of us. So we decided to go to Murillo to see if we can hold on to the penalties.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Morgan Gibbs-White
In an interview with BBC Radio Nottingham, however, Nuno said it was “more than anything, fatigue”.
DUNK RETURNS AS BRIGHTON COUNT THE COST
Brighton had their own concerns on Saturday.
Mats Wieffer (£4.7m) and Solly March (£6.5m) missed out altogether, while Adam Webster (£4.3m) and Georginio Rutter (£5.1m) came off. Webster appeared to be holding his hamstring, while Rutter’s issue was his ankle/foot.
Any length of absence for Webster and Rutter would potentially be good news for Lewis Dunk (£4.2m), Joao Pedro (£5.6m) and Danny Welbeck (£5.5m).
Dunk returned from injury as a substitute at the Amex but would have faced a fight to reclaim his place, so good has Webster been in his absence.
Meanwhile, up top, it’s been two from three of Rutter, Pedro and Welbeck of late. Pedro was a substitute on Saturday after his international exertions, while Welbeck had been watching on from the bench immediately before the March break.
“Might have to go to a scan, so I can’t say anything now.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Georginio Rutter
ANOTHER FOREST CLEAN SHEET
If you didn’t see this match… you didn’t miss much. Most of the drama came in the shootout, which Forest edged 4-3.
The Tricky Trees did what they did best: defending in their low block. On the rare occasion that line was breached, Matz Sels (£5.1m) – as he has been all season – was there to repel. In the end, he only had two saves to make before the shootout, one a cracking tip over from a Diego Gomez (£5.5m) header.
With Wood out and Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m) initially on the bench (Nuno confirming after that he was merely giving some other squad players a chance in the cup), Forest lacked the attacking swagger of Gameweek 29.
Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) led the line and gave his all with little service before coming off on the hour. Elanga, interestingly, took up the striker’s role from that point. This comes after a recent, separate tweak to his position, again designed to get him more central.
Brighton, meanwhile, were perhaps a little tentative at first, understandably so after being humped 7-0 by Forest recently.
They ended up being the more threatening of the two sides, however, underscoring their recent upturn in form. Rutter and Jack Hinshelwood (£4.9m) were off target when they should have made Sels work, while Gomez ballooned another close-range effort.
All in all, though, an instantly forgettable match.
MATETA “ALL GOOD”
A headgear-wearing Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) marked his return from an ear injury with a 70-minute run-out at Fulham.
It was a quiet afternoon for the striker, in truth. Not much fell his way in front of goal, a couple of early half-chances being snuffed out by the Fulham backline before they arrived. A tad rusty after four weeks out? The injury playing on his mind? No one but the Frenchman will truly know – but his manager didn’t seem too worried after full-time.
“All good, I think. So, I don’t know how long he has to wear it. The doctor will decide it. As long as there is maybe a risk that the wound opens or gets infected, he will wear this mask. And I think he looked pretty well.” – Oliver Glasner on how Jean-Philippe Mateta got on with his protective headgear
Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m) came off the bench to replace Mateta, getting Palace’s third and final goal of the day.
EZE AND SARR
There’ll be a rush for Crystal Palace assets with a couple of Double Gameweeks in the near future (one confirmed, one possible).
Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) and Ismaila Sarr (£5.6m) are two of their most appealing players. Both were on the scoresheet at Fulham, their goals sort of summing up their respective threat: Sarr the predatory poacher nodding in from close range, Eze – capable of the spectacular from distance – curling in a peach of a goal.
It’s been a fairly underwhelming season from Eze but a goal for England last week preceded Saturday’s strike, giving him a nice boost ahead of Double Gameweek season.
“I think Eze is [having] a quite strange season because there’s not really many goals in the Premier League but he had so many chances. He was so unlucky in many situations. He had disallowed goals, deflected balls, hitting the post, so everything. But he always keeps going and he struggled with some injuries, also strange injuries with his foot and something.
“I think also the goal against Latvia, his first goal for England, is what means a lot for him as a person and helped him. He always has the confidence, he knows – and we all know – that he has an amazing finish and that he can cut in on his right foot.” – Oliver Glasner on Eberechi Eze
Daniel Munoz (£5.1m) got through 87 minutes, with Glasner starting him despite midweek involvement for Colombia. Here’s a fun fact: Glasner has never benched him in any competition (even the EFL Cup and FA Cup) since his arrival 13 months ago.
FULHAM TO BOUNCE BACK IN GAMEWEEK 30?
Fulham started the better of the two sides on Saturday, with Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) – starting ahead of Raul Jimenez (£5.5m) as he has done in all four rounds of the FA Cup – firing a big early chance wide.
Eze’s opener undid a positive first 30 minutes, and Fulham never recovered. Aside from a close-range double-chance for Calvin Bassey (£4.5m), both brilliantly blocked, the Cottagers went out with a whimper.
You would not back against them bouncing back at the Emirates in midweek, however. They’ve often saved their best for the division’s elite in 2024/25, regularly flattering to deceive against those around or below them in the table.
Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) started here, having pulled out of the USA squad over the break. Short of his best, he was hooked after 71 minutes.
