Julius OkorieIt will be full day’s job for five Nigerians today, as Fulham take on Crystal Palace and Brighton battle Nottingham Forest in the English FA Cup quarter-finals.
Super Eagles stars, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and their Fulham teammates, are up against Eberechi Eze’s Crystal Palace at the Craven Cottage in London.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIwobi and Bassey just back from international duty, where they alongside their Super Eagles teammates failed to checkmate Warriors of Zimbabwe in the World Cup qualifiers, will be hoping to put that aside to ginger their club to victory.
Nigeria born England international, Eberechi Eze, will be on parade for Crystal Palace against Fulham in a survival of the fittest contest.
The hosts’ penalty-kick prowess enabled them to eliminate Manchester United from the previous round, while the Eagles trounced Millwall in a clash overshadowed by a sickening injury to Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Fulham have been knocked out of their past four FA Cup quarter-final ties since last reaching the semis in 2002, three times to Man United and once against Tottenham Hotspur, whom they put down 2-0 just before international football intervened.
READ ALSO:FA Cup: How Calvin Bassey, Iwobi Helped To Sack Manchester United
Like Fulham, Palace are also still yearning for their maiden triumph in the FA Cup, but while the Cottagers have lost each of their last four FA Cup quarter-final encounters, Palace have prevailed in four of their last five matches at this stage of the competition.
In another FA Cup clash, the duo of Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi will be attempting to disarm Brighton at the American Express Stadium, East Sussex.
Brighton defeated Newcastle United 2-1 at St. James’ Park in their last match, their third FA Cup victory in a row this season. Yankuba Minteh and Danny Welbeck netted in the win. They are undefeated in their last seven games in all competitions heading into the contest against Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest earned a point in their last match, drawing 1-1 at home against Ipswich Town. They are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions.
Nottingham Forest won the last meeting between the clubs, emerging victorious 7-0 in a Premier League match at The City Ground in February. Chris Wood led Forest with three goals, netting in the 32nd, 64th, and 69th minute. Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams, and Jota Silva also were on the scoresheet.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Traore, Pereira, Iwobi; Muniz
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Turner; Richards, Guehi, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; Mateta
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
