How the Int’l Break Will Impact the FA Cup Quarter Finals

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·27 March 2025

How the Int’l Break Will Impact the FA Cup Quarter Finals

The FA Cup quarter finals will take place this weekend. Among the eight teams left standing is a juggernaut (Manchester City), a six-pack of mid-to-lower table over-achievers, and a “minnow” (Preston North End).

One thing they all have in common: players who compete for their national teams. In our podcast I offhandedly mentioned how this could be a factor. After all, some of these players had to travel long distances, suffer jet lag, log minutes, etc. Then it occurred to me that I should put my data where my mouth is. And lo, here we are.

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Who Played For What Club

Luscious data generated from game reports and multiple sources.

The image above represents a distillation of every club’s ELIGIBLE national team player, and what mischief they got up to over the Break. Note they are grouped by fixture and in order of play. Home team is white; visitors are grey. I’ll break down what each column represents:

CLUB – Duh.
PLAYERS – The number of players on a club’s roster who have ever been called up for their national team.
NATIONS – The number of distinct countries (within the club) represented. It’s not particularly relevant, but kinda cool.
CALLED – The number of players who actually got called up for international duty over this specific break.
CALL % – Percentage expression of the above.
MINUTES PLAYED – this whole part is statistical geekery. AVG – Average number of minutes played by a called player over the break. Players called who did not play are not part of the calculations. Most teams had two games, with only a handful of exceptions (Scotland, Japan and Serbia). MAX – The highest number of minutes a player logged. Does not include stoppage time (so actual value is likely higher). MAX# – The number of players from the club who recorded the maximum playing time of 180 minutes OR GREATER. MAX% – Percentage expression of the above.

So What Does This All Mean?

I’m gonna break down the potential impacts of the data by fixture, by team. We also include the FA Cup Quarter Finals airtime and where to stream each game.

Fulham vs. Crystal Palace

Each team has ten international players, but Palace had all ten of theirs called up. Fulham only had seven. Two of Palace’s call-ups were goalkeepers. No offense to that position, but playing minutes don’t impact that position as much as they do field players. On average, the Eagles’ call-ups played nearly 50 minutes LESS than their Fulham counterparts. 57% of the Fulham squad logged 180 minutes of play (two complete games). Some did more (due to extra time). Note that Jean-Philippe Mateta was not included in the Palace data. But rumors suggest he may return for this match.Advantage: Slightly leaning Crystal Palace’s way.Watch: Saturday, March 29th @ 8:15am ET on ESPN+

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Nottingham Forest

Brighton certainly got the worst of it in terms of the data. Even with 100% called-up, Nottingham Forest had a slightly smaller absolute number. And 33% of Brighton players had to go all-in, logging the MAX minutes. But here’s what the data DOESN’T tell you… Forest striker Chris Wood suffered a hip injury in New Zealand’s match vs. New Caledonia. The full extent of this is not known, but losing him for this fixture would be a major blow.Advantage: None. Both teams want to win the cup. But both teams also want to play in Europe next year. Balancing these desires is the challenge.Watch: Saturday, March 29th @ 1:15pm ET on ESPN+

Bournemouth vs. Manchester City

You really do not get more balanced than this. Both teams had similar numbers of call-ups (10 vs. 12, though City had more eligible), and nearly identical minute impacts across AVG, MAX# and MAX%.Advantage: None.Watch: Sunday, March 30th @ 8:30am ET on ESPN+

Preston North End vs. Aston Villa

Here’s a case where you need to study the data closely, particularly minding the values against the percentages. Simple fact: Villa had 4x the number of call-ups than Preston. To be honest, applause to Preston for having three! While the average minute hit is higher for Preston, across a squad Villa’s number makes a much bigger impact. Nearly an entire starting line-up for Villa comes into this match having played 120 minutes.Advantage: Preston North End with a vengeance. Add in the home pitch advantage, and I smell an upset.Watch: Sunday, March 30th @ 11:30am ET on ESPN+