Two bottom-half Premier League teams shift their focus to the EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday night, as Fulham welcome Crystal Palace to Craven Cottage.

While the pressure has been lifted from Alvaro Arbeloa’s shoulders in recent weeks, there appear to be growing concerns over Pierre Sage’s future at Selhurst Park.

Match preview

Arbeloa was among the early contenders to become the first Premier League manager to be sacked following a difficult start to life as Fulham boss, but one defeat in his last six matches in all competitions (W3 D2), including back-to-back league victories, has lifted the spirits at Craven Cottage.

The West London club began the 2026-27 campaign without a win in six top-flight fixtures, but they have since claimed morale-boosting 1-0 victories over newly-promoted duo Hull City and Coventry City, with Oscar Bobb netting an 80th-minute winner to secure maximum points at the CBS Arena last weekend.

Sitting 15th in the Premier League table and above the likes of Manchester United, Fulham were also triumphant in the third round of the EFL Cup last month, as they secured a 3-2 away victory over West Ham United. Bobb also scored the winner in this five-goal thriller after first-half strikes from Rodrigo Muniz and Cesar Palacios.

Before travelling to Aston Villa in the top flight on Saturday, Fulham will endeavour to progress beyond the EFL Cup fourth round for the third time in four seasons when they take on Crystal Palace this week; they were knocked out by Newcastle in the quarter-finals last year while they reached the semi-finals in 2023-24.

Fulham will be wary of their recent record against Palace, though, as they have lost four of their last five head-to-head battles with the Eagles (D1), most recently losing 3-2 at home in the Premier League just over seven weeks ago.

Just four months after succeeding Oliver Glasner as Crystal Palace head coach, Pierre Sage is seemingly hanging onto his job by the thinnest of threads after a fifth Premier League defeat in eight games has left the Eagles down in 17th place in the table.

Sage and his Palace players were booed off by the Selhurst Park faithful following another underwhelming performance in a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Sunday, with this result coming a week after their humbling 5-0 loss at M23 rivals Brighton.

At a time when reports of a new frontrunner being in contention to replace Sage have emerged, the Frenchman has insisted that the noise around his position is “normal” and believes he still has faith from the players and club’s hierarchy to turn their fortunes around quickly.

A tricky run of fixtures against Tottenham, Hoffenheim (Europa League) and Liverpool are on the horizon for Palace, but they must first turn their attention to a favourable midweek trip to Craven Cottage where they have not lost any of their last nine visits in all competitions (W6 D3), winning each of their last four by an aggregate score of 10-3.

The 2025 FA Cup winners, who beat Middlesbrough 3-0 in the EFL Cup third round last month, are bidding to progress beyond the fourth round for the third consecutive season, having previously fallen at this stage or earlier for 12 years in a row.

However, defensive concerns remain a key issue for Palace, who have conceded 24 goals in all competitions this season, including a Premier League-high 19 goals. They have also shipped a total of 50 goals in 2026, the most of any team in the division and already six more than they conceded in the whole of last year (44).

Fulham EFL Cup form:

Fulham form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace EFL Cup form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

Fulham left-back Ryan Sessegnon will serve the second of a three-match domestic suspension on Wednesday, while out-of-favour Emile Smith Rowe is a doubt after missing the win at Coventry with some unspecified ‘issues’.

Summer signing Hugo Larsson was handed his first Premier League start last weekend after recovering from injury, but his place in centre-midfield may come under threat from Sander Berge.

Arbeloa will consider freshening up his team in a few other positions, with Benjamin Lecomte, Kenny Tete, ex-Palace man Joachim Anderson, Tom Cairney, Kevin and Rodrigo Muniz all pushing for a recall.

As for Crystal Palace, defensive duo Chadi Riad (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), and midfielder Quinten Timber (thigh) all remain sidelined with injuries.

Jorgen Strand Larsen (knock) and Ismaila Sarr (groin) both missed the defeat to Newcastle and will be assessed ahead of kickoff along with goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who has missed the last nine matches with an ankle injury.

Tyrick Mitchell scored twice in the Premier League win at Fulham last month, but Ben Chilwell – who also found the net in that match – is likely to replace him at left wing-back, while Oscar Mingueza, Honest Ahanor, Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes and Eddie Nketiah may also be handed starts.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Lecomte; Tete, Anderson, Bassey, Robinson; Charles, Berge; Kevin, King, Palacios; Muniz

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Benitez; Lerma, Ahanor, Richards; Mingueza, Wharton, Hughes, Chilwell; McNeil, Guessand; Nketiah

We say: Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace (Fulham to win on penalties) 

While both teams have endured challenging campaigns thus far, Fulham appear to be turning a corner just as a defensively-frail Crystal Palace side head in the opposite direction.

A closely-contested battle in the capital may end all square after 90 minutes, but we are backing the Cottagers to hold their nerve on penalties and progress to round five.

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