Fulham vs. Leeds - Fifth Round FA Cup

Fulham hosts Leeds in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup on Tuesday. Kickoff is at 2:45 EST with coverage on ESPN+.

There are 16 teams left in the tournament including four teams that have beaten Fulham this season (Manchester City, Tottenham, Manchester United, West Ham - the last two are playing each other). In the Fourth Round, Fulham needed a replay to defeat Sunderland while Leeds beat Accrington Stanley of League One. Leeds got a win against Southampton over the weekend, but prior to that they hadn't won a league match since early November. Their only away win this season came in October versus Liverpool. Based on recent form, Fulham will come into this match as favorites. Fulham have shown some offensive struggles lately, but the defense since the World Cup break has improved dramatically - 0.5 goals conceded per match over the last 10 vs 1.7 conceded over the prior 15. There is a good chance this will come down to a single goal - a break for Leeds or someone other than Mitrovic finding a way to score.

With almost a week to the next match I'd like to see Silva put out the strongest team possible. I'm not sure what that means for the four up top, but I at least hope we see a lot of Solomon.

 

1000% put out the best side possible given the circumstances. Leeds is in a relegation fight, they just played Sat and their next Prem game is Sat while we don’t play till our derby match next Mon. Maybe someone else can remind me when the last time we were either safe and/or not striving for promotion at this point of the competition (Maybe Roy’s team after the Europa season). Win and it’s 90 minutes from Wembley. COYW!!!

 

I'm for fielding a strong 11 except for Mitro if he's even marginally not 101%. We need him to fully recover from that pesky ankle thing. We need the pre-World-Cup Mitro. Reed was banged up last time out. Let him recover, too. A blessing in disguise: Palhinha can go all out tomorrow since he gets a little vacation over the following two matches. I wonder if we keep playing Rodak in the cup? Leno would give us a better chance, and I think should start.

Something like this?
Leno
Soares-Tosin-Diop-Kurzawa
Lukic-Palhinha-Pereira
Wilson-Vinicius-Bobby

Tete, Jedi, Solomon, and Willian off the bench to maul Leeds with skill and speed when they get tired.

Hoping Leeds rests Adams so that I don't have to root for him to be terrible tomorrow.

This season has been so much fun. Let it continue.

 

One thing that came up in the Fulhamish podcast is that there is an expectation attendance will be light at the Leeds match because the tickets are way too expensive and season passes won't get you in. How much are tickets? £40 - the equivalent of $48. I suppose I've gotten used to Americanized ticket prices because less than $50 sounded like a perfectly fine price to me. A single ticket for nose-bleed seats at an NHL game can cost close to $100, so their protestations at $48 tickets were amusing to me. However, it is a different environment over there and these clubs are supposed to be neighborhood teams rather than a single team for an entire media market. Sadly though, I suspect in 10 years they'll be looking fondly on £40 tickets. The downside of an American owner.

 

@MicahMan, not sure about other parts of the country, but Cali has legalized scalping disguised as ‘Ticket Brokers’, MLB is the only sport where you can get a ticket for less.

Both teams fielding strong teams. Mitro is back. Leno, Tete, Willian, Reed on bench, but that’s a side that should create chances.

 

Good Lawd that goal by Palhinha has to be Goal of the Year so far, bad giveaway by Adams, but the strike was redonkulous. Solomon w/another brilliant goal from almost the same spot as his goal v Wolves (at this rate, some of the big boys are gonna be in on him).

 

Hmm, let’s see…a clean sheet (Rodak’s 2nd in FA Cup play), two splendid goals from open play, two goals on three shots on goal, a solid victory over a fellow PL club and advancement to the quarterfinals. Two wins away from another potential final at the big “W.” A quick check of today’s starting lineup versus the lineup last time out at Sunderland tells you all you need to know. After today, it’s time to assess our authentic chances of winning this thing for the first time in club history.
There are three clubs left that we probably can’t beat: Citeh, ManUre and Spuds. I think we can beat Wet Spam, but let’s hope we get the chance if they knock out Man United tomorrow at Old Trafford (which isn’t very likely and I wouldn’t expect it). We can beat everybody else still in it.
June road trip to Wembley anybody?

 

The highlights!


Those two goals. Just wow.

This was such an interesting match to watch. The dynamics changed in so many ways at a few positions:

• With Ream playing Fulham was able to keep a clean sheet that they couldn't manage against Sunderland.
• Mitrovic added so much more to Fulham's ability to get forward. That one over-the-shoulder cross-field pass to Wilson was amazing.
• Rodak has been a fine keeper for a few seasons, but he's not Leno. I firmly believe a couple of those scary moments in front of goal never would have happened with Leno who would have just wrapped up the ball. I'd like to see Leno in net in future FA Cup matches.
  
• Soares made Fulham's right side a lot less threatening than Tete. Maybe he just needs some more time, but Tete brings a lot more to the Fulham attack.

Fulham managed to beat Leeds without having to play all their best players, which should leave them in good shape for Brentford.

 

I couldn't believe it when Palhinha's shot went in. I agree--goal of the year candidate. Another excellent match by Solomon, and this time he got solid 80 minutes. I think he's at or close to 100%. We must sign him permanently. If we get into Europe (either by finishing better than 6th or even 7th, or by winning the FA Cup) it'll be easier to convince him to stay.

I was wrong about saving Mitro for later. He looked like he enjoyed being out there today, even without scoring.

Lukic is still out of sync with the rest of the team, but he is already a vast upgrade on Chalobah.

Ream didn't score today, but I think three goal line clearances and brilliant positioning and tackling deserve MotM honors. He's waited until his mid-30s to become a world-class CB. I think he has a couple years at this level left in him. Heck, I wouldn't bet against him still being under consideration for the 2026 World Cup team.

It's fun being a Fulham fan this season. (I'll keep repeating this until I can't.)

 

You have to watch the short highlights from Fulham just to hear Gentleman Jim and Jamie say in unison "He's done it again!" when Solomon's strike goes in.

 

Pahlinha’s entire sequence on that play was amazing. Not just an amazing shot, but equally amazing anticipation and technique on the cut out of the pass. Just a great, great play all the way around, from beginning to end.
I’d have to vote for he and Perreira right now for co-MVP’s for the season.

 

I turned off all of my notifications and ignored any news yesterday afternoon while at work. After dinner I loaded up ESPN+ to watch the match on demand and noticed that the recording was over 4 hours long. I immediately groaned, thinking that surely the game had gone to extra time. This thought stuck in the back of my head the entire match which didn't really let me enjoy the lead that Fulham had. Thankfully, there were nearly two hours of extra material after the match ended and I went to bed at a regular hour.

I think it really helped that Fulham's next match isn't until Monday. This allowed Silva to field the strongest side yet in the FA Cup. Maybe he's "going for it" as some have mentioned, but I feel that decision was made much easier for him knowing that the team will have the full amount of regular rest before the Brentford match.

I thought Ream, Mitrovic and the goal scorers were fantastic on the night. Mitro's play with his back to goal was creative and effective in giving his teammates ample chances. Lukic also looks to be a good signing so far. He's still getting comfortable but has a good idea of his role.

 

Of all the amazing potential draws (Grimsby at home???) Fulham got one of the worst for the quarter finals - away at Manchester United. At least it isn't City I guess. Sheffield United and Blackburn play each other so one of them will be in the semi-finals.

 

The draw was a bit of the ol' buzzkill for cup glory this season. However, Fulham was always going to have to beat a stacked club at some point (obviously, meeting in the quarters wasn't in the original script) so it may as well begin at Old Trafford (with all due respect to Sunderland and Leeds). COYW

 

I'm obviously bummed (like most on here) about the quarterfinal draw, but United are certainly beatable. Especially after watching them get absolutely hammered at Anfield yesterday. We played them more than well enough to get a point at the Cottage earlier this season (until Garnacho stole it late), and they'll have just played Betis in the Europa League a few days earlier. If Fulham turn up ready to go they're more than capable of beating this United team at Old Trafford.