Premier League and FA Cup quarter-finals: what to look out for this weekend
Wolves youngsters on the prowl
Gary O’Neil conceded his decision to start Pedro Neto against Fulham backfired, with the Portuguese winger set to miss Wolves’ FA Cup date with Coventry on Saturday after aggravating a hamstring problem.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is also a doubt with a knee injury sustained in the same game, so opportunities could arise for those on the periphery. Nathan Fraser, a 19-year-old forward, made his full debut last time out.
Noha Lemina, the 18-year-old brother of the midfielder Mario and who was on the bench against Fulham, could get his first minutes in old gold while the 18-year-old striker Leon Chiwome – tipped for a bright future last year in our Next Generation series – is another untried option.
The 20-year-old midfielder Tawanda Chirewa could also feature but O’Neil, with last week’s big calls fresh in the memory, will be careful not to be too bold given what is at stake.
Ben Fisher
Wolves v Coventry, FA Cup, Saturday 12.15pm (all times GMT)
Bees ready to take out anger on lowly Clarets
Brentford will be nursing an understandable grievance at Turf Moor having seen Kai Havertz escape a second yellow card for a blatant act of cheating before scoring Arsenal’s late winner against them last weekend.
Channelled the right way against a Burnley team that appear destined to return to the Championship, it could mute the undeserved criticism that has been thrown Thomas Frank’s way during a run of five Premier League games without a win.
That winless sequence includes matches against the current top three, Chelsea and away to West Ham, where overall standards undoubtedly dropped in the 4-2 defeat. But Frank should not have to ask for perspective.
Ivan Toney has not scored in his last
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