How Fulham and Crystal Palace reached the Carabao Cup round of 16

Fulham host Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup round of 16, with the opportunity for the Cottagers to reach the last eight in a cup competition for the fifth straight season.

It has been far from an easy season so far for Alvaro Arbeloa, who has had to contend with a challenging start to life in West London.

The Cottagers up until two games ago, had yet to come out on top in the Premier League.

That led to immense pressure on the Spaniard, and it looked for all money that he was going to face the sack.

But that pressure seemed to galvanise Fulham, and Arbeloa has seen the pressure drop off him after the Cottagers managed to hold on for 1-0 wins over both Hull and Coventry, rising from the relegation zone as a result.

Palace, on the other hand, have struggled big time, with only two wins against Fulham and Nottingham Forest to their name, and back-to-back defeats seeing them fall as low as 17th in the Premier League table.

But that Premier League form may have little bearing on tonight’s fixture, with cups often seeing struggling sides find their groove at just the perfect time.

So, how have both sides reached the Carabao Cup round of 16?

Fulham’s Carabao Cup run started way back in August, when the Cottagers hosted AFC Wimbledon.

Emile Smith Rowe scored Fulham’s first of the night, before Rodrigo Muniz bagged his first goal for Fulham in over a year to put the Cottagers 2-0 up at half-time.

A Gonzalo Garcia wondergoal in stoppage time sealed the deal, as the Cottagers entered the third round.

There, they met in form Championship side West Ham at the London Stadium.

A ding-dong battle saw the scores tied at 2-2 at half-time, with Muniz on the scoresheet again for Fulham, assisted by Cesar Palacios, who then scored the Cottagers’ second.

Arbeloa’s men continued to push in the second half though and substitutes Oscar Bobb and Josh King combined for the winner, with the Norwegian scoring his first Fulham goal to see the Cottagers advance to the fourth round.

Due to Crystal Palace’s involvement in the Europa League, they were not involved in the Carabao Cup until September, when they made light work of Championship side Middlesbrough.

Jorgen Strand Larsen was on top form for the Eagles, scoring twice and assisting Daichi Kamada for Palace’s third, as they strolled into the fourth round of the competition.