Predicted Lineups: Fulham vs. Crystal Palace - How could Cottagers, Eagles line up?

Fulham have little to no time to dwell on winning a second successive Premier League clash and easing out of the relegation zone, as they face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Having beaten AFC Wimbledon and West Ham to reach this stage of the competition, bizarrely, Fulham once again do not need to leave London, as they host the Eagles.

Now into the Last 16 of the Carabao Cup, both sides will look to advance into the quarter-finals, where of course, they are just two matches from a trip to Wembley.

But ahead of this mammoth clash, who starts for both sides?

After a bit of experimenting, Alvaro Arbeloa appears to very much know his best XI, having picked up three points against both Hull and Coventry in the Premier League.

And that would suggest, with another huge game away at Aston Villa on Saturday night, that Arbeloa will choose to massively rotate his starting XI for this one.

Benjamin Lecomte played against both AFC Wimbledon and West Ham and so it is fair to assume that he will again be between the sticks for Fulham.

Joachim Andersen and Jorge Cuenca will almost certainly form the defensive pairing, with Calvin Bassey and David Affengruber beginning to for a strong partnership as the first choice duo.

With Ryan Sessegnon still suspended, it would appear pretty likely that Antonee Robinson will retain his place at left back, likely with Kenny Tete starting at right back.

Hugo Larsson got his first Premer League start against Coventry but he was taken off shortly after the hour mark and so he could well play again on Wednesday, alongside Harrison Reed.

In the front four, I expect we will see wholesale changes, with Cesar Palacios, Emile Smith Rowe, Kevin and Rodrigo Muniz coming in and the likes of Alex Iwobi, Josh King, Oscar Bobb and Gonzalo Garcia given a rest.

Fulham predicted XI: Lecomte; Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson; Reed, Larsson; Kevin, Smith Rowe, Palacios; Muniz

Pierre Sage is on his very last legs as Crystal Palace manager, with the Eagles plummeting down the Premier League table and seemingly unable to stop conceding goals.

Having earlier beaten Fulham, they now sit below the Cottagers in the table, a point above safety, and, having conceded 19 goals, have the worst defence in the Premier League.

Nonetheless, they have proven in recent seasons that they can navigate cup competitions well, having won the FA Cup and the Conference League in the past two years.

So, it may be in Sage’s interest to take this game seriously before Palace take on Tottenham at the weekend.

That may see less rotation than Fulham, and there may be some of the big hitters on the field for Palace.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta may find himself on in the likely absence of Jorgen Strand Larsen, while Chris Richards may also enter the backline, as Palace desperately try to figure things out defensively.

Ben Chilwell, who scored the winning goal against Fulham in the Premier League, could start this one in the left wing-back role.

Crystal Palace predicted XI: Benitez; Mingueza, Richards, Disasi, Ahanor, Chilwell; Osorio, Wharton, Hughes, Pino; Mateta