Fulham at Ipswich - 4th Round EFL Cup

It has been almost 6 since Fulham last faced Ipswich. Back in January of 2018 Ipswich got out to an early lead, but then went down to 10 men after a red card. What followed was one of craziest stretches ever for Fulham as they put in four goals in seven minutes with two a piece from Sessegnon and Kamara. This was a few matches into what would eventually become a stunning 23 game unbeaten streak. The following season both were relegated - Ipswich to League One and Fulham back to the Championship.

Ipswich finally got back to the Championship this season and have taken it by storm. They sit comfortably in second place with only one draw and one loss. In the third round of the EFL cup Ipswich fell behind early by two goals to Wolves, but they came back to get a shocking 3-2 win.

Both teams have nothing to lose so I expect a strong showing from both. Fulham will still be without Diop, Tosin, and Traore, but Vinicius and Tete could return. A win books a ticket to the quarter finals of the EFL cup. As with all of Fulham's matches, success will depend on someone finding a way to score.

The match will be on ESPN+ with kick-off at 3:45pm EDT (England is only 4 hours ahead of the east coast until Monday)

 

A solid shift by the guys in white - just wish they didn't decide not to defend that last Ipswich corner.

On to the quarterfinals!

 

The highlights:


Nice to see Fulham put Ipswich away comfortably with a back line that hadn't played together before. I was a little worried when I saw the lineup, but they performed as they should have against a changed Ipswich lineup.

The quarter final matchups are primed for some kind of Cinderella story. Either Port Vale or Middlesbrough will be in the semi-final since they play each other. Meanwhile, Chelsea face Newcastle and West Ham (who took out Arsenal) take on Liverpool. Fulham's quarterfinal matchup will be a rematch of the season opener against Everton.

 

I realized there were two blasts from the past in the Ipswich lineup today. First was Sone Aluko who spent a season at Fulham back in 2016. Then there was Cameron Burgess. He was one of Magath's starters when Fulham began life back in the Championship. I remember him only because I had no idea how he had earned a place in the squad. His first match was actually against Ipswich. After his fourth match, a 5-1 loss to Derby he never played for Fulham again. Dark times back then - one point out of the first 8 matches. Things have improved for Fulham and Burgess since then. He finally got regular playing time with Ipswich last season and kept his starting position as they got off to a flying start this year.

 

MUNIZ SCORED!!!!!!