Mateta injury escalation + will Isak be out again?

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We continue to discuss the Fantasy talking points from Wednesday’s EFL Cup clash.

This time, we look back Liverpool 0-3 Crystal Palace And Newcastle United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur.

You can read about the possible implications (or lack thereof!) of Palace’s win in Gameweek 17 here.

WEDNESDAY RESULTS

Team	They will oppose	Results	Target	Help
Liverpool	Crystal Palace (h)	0-3 defeat	–	–
Crystal Palace	Liverpool (a)	won 3-0	Sarr x2, Pino	Pine, Lerma
Newcastle United	Tottenham Hotspur (k)	won 2-0	Schar, Woltemade	Tonali, Willock
Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle United (a)	0-2 defeat	–	–

SELECTION/ROTATION

Team	Number of starting XI changes made from GW9	Players who retained their place (minutes played)	Minutes for other players
Liverpool	10	Kerkez (90)	Woodman (90), Gomez (90), Endo (90), Ramsay (90), Nyoni (90), Chiesa (90), Ngumoha (86), Morrison (67), Robertson (67), Mac Allister (67), Gordon (23), Wellity Lucky (23), Nallo (12), Kone-Doherty (4)
Crystal Palace	5	Nah (90), Lacrix (90), 90, Pino (90), Munoz (74), Sar.	Benitez (90), Candon (90), Sosa (83), Hughes (74), Nketiah (45), Matthew (45), Devenny (28), Lerma (16), Cardines (16), Uche (7)
Newcastle United	8	Thiaw (90), Bakar (90), Woltemade (71)	Ramsdale (90), Schar (90), Tonali (90), Barnes (90), Krafth (71), Willock (71), Enganga (89), Ramsey (80), Tripier (19), Joelinton (19), Osualon (19), Bruno G (10), Gordon (1)
Tottenham Hotspur	4	Danso (90), Palhinha (90), Porro (90), Spence (90), Xavi (90), Bentancur (65), Johnson (65)	Kinsky (90), Bergvall (90), Sarr (90), Richarlison (71), Kolo Muani (25), Kudus (25), Tel (12)

NKETIAH INJURY – A GOOD THING FOR MATETA OR NOT?

The most bought striker in Gameweek 10, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m), appeared to come through Wednesday’s win at Anfield unscathed. Even better: he gets 45 minutes off Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) gets the nod up front. A relief for those who moved early for the Frenchman.

And did you know, now Nketiah is injured again.

“Just one negative aspect: Eddie Nketiah unfortunately has another hamstring injury, but everything is going according to our schedule.” – Oliver Glasner

Nketiah’s injury can be seen as a positive, as he no longer has a position to worry about. But is he really a threat? Mateta has always started in the league, and only once this season has Nketiah replaced him during a Premier League match. On four other occasions, the former Arsenal striker replaced the Palace midfielder in the second half.

Instead, Nketiah was used to ease Mateta’s workload in midweek, whether in the UEFA Conference League against Dynamo Kyiv or on Wednesday on Merseyside. Could Nketiah’s absence, if any, actually be more detrimental to Mateta domestically, due to the added pressure on a midweek night?

We’ll find out from Glasner on Friday the extent of Nketiah’s latest publication.

ISAK LOST AGAIN?

Speaking after Wednesday’s press conference, Arne Slot seemed to suggest just that Alexander Isaac (£10.4m) will be in doubt for Gameweek 10.

When asked about his injured contingent, the Liverpool boss said this Ryan Gravenberch (£5.6m) has the “best chance” of recovering – which raises obvious question marks over Isak’s fitness status.

“I think Ryan has a good chance. The others will… let’s wait and see tomorrow and Friday. I don’t know [about] all of them but I think Ryan has the best chance of all.” – Arne Slot on his injured players

We won’t have to wait long for an update, as Slot will face the media on Friday at 9am.

SLOTS BIND THE WHITE FLAG WITH THE LINE-UP

This was one of Liverpool’s defeats that perhaps doesn’t count in the current worrying run of defeats, as it was actually a loss to the reserves against Palace. Ten changes from Gameweek 9, with 10 rested players not even on the bench. Take a mid-week break for such things Mohamed Salah (£14.3 million) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.5 million), then.

Only Milos Kerkez (£5.8m) survived, and the fact that he got 90 minutes suggests that he may be one of the substitutes against Aston Villa.

Despite a promising start, with Ngumoha River (£4.5m) looked lively and, as center forward for the day, Federico Chiesa (£6.4m) squandered two good chances, it was soon a man-to-man game. Indeed, the Reds only had one shot on target throughout the match.

Slot admitted after full-time that he had sacrificed this EFL Cup tie to freshen up his regulars for Gameweek 10.

“If I look at our performance against Brentford, for example, two days after we played [Eintracht] When I went to Frankfurt, I saw a team that might have difficulty playing three games in seven days. Again, this is not an excuse to lose a football match, but I would not be surprised to see the struggles some players have had in pre-season and players who have come from different leagues and it is a new challenge for them to play at Premier League and Champions League level in three games in seven days.” – Arne Slots

SARR PROVIDERS

Palace took advantage of the hosts’ weakness, with Ismail Sarr (£6.5m) scored two goals and Choose (£5.8m) rounded out the scoring at the end of the match.

This was perhaps Pino’s best game in a Palace shirt, the Spaniard creating a match-high five chances and assisting Sarr’s second goal. Awesome action too.

Football, just pure football…

Powered by @SunExpress Airlines 🛫 pic.twitter.com/wi9eR5raD8

— Crystal Palace FC (@CPFC) October 29, 2025

Sarr was particularly happy to face Liverpool: he had five shots in all here. Half of his 18 attempts and four of his six goals from the Community Shield onwards have come in three meetings with the Reds!

ANOTHER WOLTEMADE GOAL + THIAW’S SET-PIECE THREAT

Another game, another goal Nick Woltemade (£7.5 million). The German scored six goals in nine starts in all competitions, and another goal was scored with his head – aerial ability is not meant to be his strong suit!

The German is one of just three Newcastle players to retain his place in Gameweek 9, although an early withdrawal will ensure there are no concerns about playing him on Sunday. The twin-fingered striker almost provided an assist to his name, also by teeing-up Harvey Barnes (£6.4m) after brilliant play outside the Spurs area.

One of the other players who retained his place, was quietly impressive Malick Thiaw (£4.9m), showing his own attacking threat from set pieces. He provided a recycled set-piece for Barnes to tip over the bar, while the centre-back made two attempts from set-piece passes.

He’s also gotten at least one shot in the last four Gameweeks.

Newcastle did get success from corners, very well Sandro Tonali (£5.4m) cross Fabian Schar (£5.4m) for a header. Six of the Magpies’ 10 shots on the night came from set plays.

Remember that Newcastle’s next opponents will be West Ham, the team with the worst defensive record from set pieces in 2025/26.

“That’s something we’ve been working on really hard recently in our game and I think we have the height and strength to cause problems for teams.” – Eddie Howe on the set of the play

SPURS ARE NOT BAD, NOT GREAT

Spurs had a funny last season as they sat third in the Premier League but didn’t set the world alight with their performances. Maybe this is just Thomas Frank’s new order: solid but not spectacular.

Their performance on Tyneside pretty much sums up their campaign so far: not great, but not terrible either.

Wednesday is a game with good margins, with Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m) was forced to make a fine save Xavi Simons (£6.8 million), Pape Matar Sarr (£4.9 million) and Richarlison (£6.5 million). Several crosses flew untouched in Newcastle’s six-yard box. Will Schar score? Djed Spence (£4.5m) have extra time to recover? Will Woltemade find the net William Vicar (£5.1m) is in goal and not flapping the wings Antonin Kinsky (£3.9 million)?

“I think it was one of our best offensive performances of the season. You could say we didn’t create five hundred percent of the chances, but we created some really big ones.” – Thomas Frank

Spurs made fewer changes than Newcastle, just four, but key player Vicario, Micky van de Ven (£4.7 million) and Muhammad Jerusalem (£6.8m) rested. So are Redal Redal Redality (£6.9m), with Richarlison again appearing mediocre up front. Frank is undeniably in worse shape than Eddie Howe in terms of injuries, and perhaps that was the difference on the night, with Newcastle could have used a better back-up option.

“He has a small thing to sort out but he will be ready for Chelsea.” – Thomas Frank on Guglielmo Vicario’s absence

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