Separated by fewer than 10 miles in England's bustling capital, London rivals Fulham and Crystal Palace vie for a coveted FA Cup semi-final place in Saturday afternoon's quarter-final tie at Craven Cottage.
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.
Match preview
© Imago
Rewind to the first game of the Premier League season, where Man United new boy Joshua Zirkzee scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Fulham. Fast-forward to March 2, and the Dutchman was also responsible for the crucial kick in the two sides' tense FA Cup quarter-final.
However, Zirkzee's game-defining act on this occasion came against rather than for the Red Devils, who were taken all the way to spot kicks by Marco Silva's side following a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, where Bernd Leno denied Victor Lindelof and then Zirkzee from 12 yards.
In contrast, four perfect penalties from Silva's men ensured that they would rip the FA Cup trophy out of Man United's grasp, and Fulham have earned their dark horses tag as they pursue a first-ever triumph in the competition, but the historical records do not make for pleasant reading.
Indeed, 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.
Second-half strikes from Rodrigo Muniz and ex-Lilywhite Ryan Sessegnon propelled Fulham to their sixth win from their last eight matches in that London derby, thus keeping them firmly in contention for a top-seven finish, but Silva's men are incredibly yet to win back-to-back home games in all tournaments this season.
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On the other hand, Palace fortified the walls of Selhurst Park with three successive home victories before the two-week hiatus, the second of which saw the Eagles overcome a horrific injury to star striker Mateta to send Millwall packing from the FA Cup last 16.
Oliver Glasner's troops prevailed 3-1 after Liam Roberts's inexcusable high boot on Mateta, which emotional Palace chairman Steve Parish understandably labelled the "most reckless" challenge he had seen in his 59 years on this earth, but the Eagles overcame the shell-shock of that incident to stroll into the last eight.
Like Fulham, Saturday's visitors 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 their final competitive game before the international break, Palace struggled to break down a dogged Ipswich Town team with the bandaged Mateta watching from afar, but a moment of magic from Ismaila Sarr was enough for a 1-0 Premier League win and the Eagles' fourth in a row in all competitions.
That successful run coincidentally commenced with a 2-0 win for Glasner's side over Fulham at Craven Cottage in late February, a result that made it six away games unbeaten for the Eagles against the Cottagers, who have not beaten Palace on their own patch since New Year's Day 2005.
Team News
© Imago
After navigating their final two pre-international break fixtures without the services of Sasa Lukic, Fulham will welcome their midfield fulcrum back with open arms following his two-game suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards.
Lukic's return could spell danger for Emile Smith Rowe, who might be sacrificed for the returning Serbian as Andreas Pereira - who has created more chances than any other player in this season's FA Cup (18) - is pushed forward to the number 10 position.
However, Silva is still without three injured troops in Kenny Tete (knee), Harry Wilson (foot) and Arsenal FA Cup winner Reiss Nelson (thigh), the latter of whom will not play again this season.
As for the visitors, Mateta should receive a rousing welcome from both sets of supporters on Saturday, as the Frenchman has been given the green light to play in the quarter-final following his distressing ear injury.
With Mateta cleared to make his return in the London derby, Palace's only guaranteed absentees are Joel Ward (calf), Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Chadi Riad (knee), but Will Hughes is battling sickness and will be a last-minute decision.
Glasner's side took the unorthodox step of playing a mid-season friendly before the international fixtures - beating Norwegian outfit HamKam 1-0 on March 13 thanks to a stunning winner from Matheus Franca, who has done his chances of some valuable minutes no harm whatsoever.
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
We say: Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace (a.e.t, Fulham win on penalties)
Talk about an impossible game to call; both Fulham and Palace went into the international break with the wind in their sails, and the highly-anticipated return of Mateta should see the Eagles pack more of an attacking punch than they did against Ipswich.
However, there will surely not be a clear winner in this one even after 120 minutes are up, and if spot kicks are needed to decide both teams' fates, we are backing the Cottagers to replicate their recent success from 12 yards and advance to Wembley.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
