Fulham at Newcastle - EFL Cup Quarterfinal

Fulham travels up to Newcastle for the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup. Kick off is Wednesday at 3:15pm EST on Paramount+.

Who knows what will happen in this match. Newcastle are defending their title, but they've got a lot going on. They are sitting just two points above Fulham in the league table, they are doing reasonably well in the Champions League, and then there is this matter of getting beaten by Sunderland on Sunday. I'm not sure where Newcastle's heads will be for this one.

Meanwhile Fulham have their own issues with Iwobi, Bassey, and Chukwueze leaving for Afcon. Cuenca should be a straight swap for Bassey and I expect Kevin to come in for Chukwueze. Then there is the issue of the midfield. Silva will probably bring in Lukic, but I think that is not the best option. I'd much rather see a midfield trio of Smith-Rowe, King, and Berge.

I hope that Robinson remains healthy, step up defensively from his performance on Saturday, and develops some rapport with Cuenca. He's been out for a long time so I'm still not expecting peak Jedi, but it could be interesting to see what he can do with Kevin.

Kusi-Asare will be available again and I beg Silva, please, please use him to give Raul a break. There are a lot of matches coming up and he is only human.

Fulham should use this match as an opportunity to try some things out now that Nigeria is at Afcon, but there is also no reason why they can't get a result too.

 

Yes, hard agree. But we probably won't see it.
Despite this being a quarter-final, I am expecting Marco to make lots of changes from the weekend. We have a small roster, and the starters have a ton of miles in their legs. I think this may mean that Lukic starts over Berge. We may also see the return of Adama and the frustration that comes with watching him play.

 

This is probably an overreaction on my part, but I'm done with Silva. I don't care if he stays or goes. He's done great things for Fulham, but he's not allowing them to proceed any further. He's put a ceiling on what they can do. We all expected the lineup with Lukic and Berge, and I understand why he pulled Lukic at the half because of the yellow, but why do you bring on Reed and then play for a draw for the next 45 minutes? Pathetic. Fulham is just two points behind Newcastle in the league table. Fulham isn't Cardiff from League One. Put out your best players and play to win. Harrison Reed's introduction was a capitulation and a statement that throwing the dice in a shootout was better than any chance Fulham had to actually play football against Newcastle. How sad Silva thinks so lowly of his players, because I don't think they are that bad. Should have put King on and gone for the win. Should have pulled Jimenez earlier and given Kusi-Asare some time to make an impact. And probably should have played Leno, but I can forgive that decision. What a terrible wasted opportunity for Fulham tonight.

 

I'm still a Silva fan but we made no effort to win the game in the 2nd half. That was a huge disappointment. I know we got a lot of games coming but this did feel like a capitulation.

I also have to question the team construction by TK and others. Why build a team with multiple players you know you are going to lose to AFCON. Poor planning.