Fulham at Wycombe - EFL Cup Round of 16

Fulham make a short trip northwest of London to take on the Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup round of 16. Kickoff is Tuesday at 3:45pm EDT on Paramount+.

Fulham have visited Wycombe twice before in the EFL Cup in the past 10 years and Wycombe have yet to score a goal with Fulham winning 1-0 in 2015 and 2-0 in 2017. This time however Wycombe will have Don's boy Cauley Woodrow, so don't count them out because all he does is score! Wycombe will also have Fulham alumnus Jack Grimmer. Woodrow and Grimmer (along with Cairney) played for Fulham against Wycombe when they faced off in 2015. Ah, the names from that Fulham lineup: the goal scorer was Kacaniklic who's name I almost got on my Fulham shirt rather than Ream since he was my favorite player at the time and Ream was the new guy. Then you had some forgettable names like Bodurov, Voser, and Pringle along with some more memorable ones like Bettinelli and McCormack. Woodrow also played for Fulham in the 2017 meeting.

This time around Fulham comes in as a Premier League team, but as a beleaguered squad. Fulham has lost four straight and hasn't gotten anything from a match since beating Cambridge United in the previous round of the EFL cup. Meanwhile Wycombe has been on a run with 8 points (half of their season total) from their past four matches. I think that Silva was thinking a little bit about this match by having King starting on the bench against Newcastle. With a must win match coming up against Wolverhampton I really hope that Silva gives Kusi-Asare the start so Raul can rest. I would also expect to see a number of the other subs from Newcastle get starts - Cairney, Castagne, Cuenca, King, Kevin, Lecomte, maybe even Reed. The one player who could start three matches in a row that I'm most concerned about is Sessegnon. Maybe Bassey can slide into that spot since I would guess that Cuenca will get the start against Wolverhampton.

With Fulham sitting just outside the relegation zone now, I suddenly care a lot less about the cup. Winning the match would be great, but please, most importantly, no more injuries!!

 

I am joining in in this most fervent prayer. But even with backups and a couple academy players, we should have the quality to win if our mentality is right. A win would be important to break up the streak of defeats; losing can become a bad habit.

 

According to the match preview on the Fulham website, ESR is now hurt, too. Also a muscle injury. I really do have a sense we've changed some aspect of training and it's not working out. These numbers of walking wounded are unusual for Fulham. We'll be without ESR, Jedi, Wilson, Andersen, Chuk, and Muniz.

 

A bunch of changes as expected, but the formation is the traditional 4-2-3-1:
Lecomte
Castagne, Diop, Cuenca, Bassey
Reed, Cairney
Adama, King, Kevin
Raul

Subs: Leno, Tete, Amissah, Sessegnon, Berge, Lukic, Ridgeon, Iwobi, Kusi-Asare

It will be a crime if Kusi-Asare doesn't see significant playing time. It seems like Silva is taking a huge risk if Raul plays the bulk of this match with Wolverhampton this weekend. Amissah and Ridgeon are up from the youth team, but I doubt we'll see them unless Fulham has a three goal lead late in the match. By the way, the U-21's played Wycombe a few weeks ago and lost 3-1.

 

Thank Goodness LeComte bailed Sess and the Kid out in PKs. if Kevin had looked up, he scores on the shot saved off the line that was straight at the defender late in stoppage. @MicahMan Hit the nail on the head, Raul certainly played too long and didn’t look 100% coming off. Good to get a win, need another one v Wolves.

 

That was about the least inspiring way to get a win. It almost didn't deserve a dancing banana. Diop had the least enthusiastic reaction I've ever seen from someone who got a game winner, but it felt appropriate. At one point in the evening you had two former Fulham players on the scoreboard in the night's games - Woodrow and Nelson - but no one from the current Fulham.

Wish I could hear Don's thoughts about that Woodrow shot!

 

When Cauley scored I smiled a little bit. Not gonna lie. I thought about Don as well. I'm furloughed at the moment so I caught this one live with friends. Ready for the shutdown to be over but it's nice to catch a fulham weekday game.

https://x.com/FulhamSTL/status/1983294627143938244

 

Sorry, @stlouisbrad, despite the perk of live Fulham soccer, the uncertainty must suck. I hope it ends soon.

Diop to me could have been the MOTM if not for Josh King. Special talent (King), and the bright spark in this super boring and frustrating game.

I’m worried about what happening with Bassey. I’m going to sound like the get-off-my-lawn dude when I say this, but is it the low riding shorts? They convey a lackadaisical attitude, and it shows in his passing and lack of concentration.

Our passing was too slow and too sloppy, and it has to improve for Saturday. It’s early in the season, but the game against the Wolves is already a must-win. I’ll miss it because of business travel, but I’ll try to avoid the score long enough to watch it later.

 

I wondered how Fulham put together 20 minutes of highlights from this match, but this includes the full unedited shootout as called by GJ and Jamie. Also includes another bad pass from Bassey that gave Wycombe a good opportunity. He's got to get his head on straight!

 

Newcastle away in the quarters. It could be the second-best draw we could have gotten. Only Brentford would have been better. A good enough team not to take lightly, but not Arsenal or Man City, rather than the banana peel of Cardiff. It would have been better to play at home, but we can't have everything.

 

A win is a win is a win. I’m less concerned about form than advancing but we clearly have to play better at St. James’s Park next go around. Wicked, no doubt clutch PK’s, especially Diop. Who knew? Well, now we know.

 

I'm not sure this team will ever win a trophy considering the way that they play to the level of the competition. That makes every match a toss up. A single team would have to be extremely lucky to win a string of 5+ 50/50 cup matches.

I'm glad the team has moved on though. Time to get revenge at St. James Park!

 

Hey, 3.125% is not nothing. Way better than the lottery.