Trophyless XI dreaming of FA Cup glory
Fulham, Brighton, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace are trophy virgins vying for FA Cup glory in 2025. But what about the potless players? We’ve got you covered with an XI guaranteed to finish sixth in the Premier League.
GK: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton)
Netherlands No. 1 Verbruggen gets our trophyless XI underway, with his Brighton side preparing to host the third best team in the Premier League, Nottingham Forest, in the quarter-final of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Brighton are seeking revenge on the team that hit them and Verbruggen for seven in on February 1. Verbruggen conceded all but two of the shots Forest hit on target to condemn the Seagulls to their worst league result since losing 9-0 to Middlesbrough on the first day of the 1958/59 season in the second tier.
Verbruggen is one of the highest-rated young goalkeepers in Europe but was unable to win anything in three years at Anderlecht, which is unfortunate considering how much they dominated in the 2010s. He was named the club’s Player of the Season for 2022/23 though, which helped earn him a transfer to England.
RB: Matty Cash (Aston Villa)
Nottingham Forest’s Player of the Season in 2019/20 and Aston Villa’s Player of the Season in 2021/22, Cash has more goals for the Polish national team than he has trophies won in his career. You guessed it, he has a big fat zero in the latter department.
Villa will fancy their chances in the FA Cup, especially after being the lucky sods to be drawn against the only team outside of the Premier League, Preston North End. Their quarter-final is at Deepdale, which does make it less of an inevitability than if it was at Villa Park.
That means the club sat 14th in the Championship are standing between the Villans and their first trip to Wembley since the 2020 League Cup final defeat to Manchester City – which was six months before they signed a 23-year-old Cash from Forest.
CB: Joachim Andersen (Fulham)
Former Twente, Lyon, Sampdoria and Crystal Palace defender Anderson – now at Fulham – has never won a trophy. Of course you knew that given the premise of this article.
The 28-year-old Danish international is hoping to lift his first and what would be Fulham’s first-ever major trophy. The Cottagers’ most recent domestic final was in the FA Cup 50 years ago and they reached the final of the Europa League in 2010, suffering a heartbreaking extra-time loss to Atletico Madrid.
We reckon Fulham need this more than most and Marco Silva would be wrong not to prioritise this competition over anything else. With Tottenham Hotspur potentially on the search for a new manager this summer, it could end up being the perfect parting gift.
CB: Murillo (Nottingham Forest)
Keeping on with the variety, we have our first Nottingham Forest player!
Reported Liverpool transfer target Murillo is only 22 years old but is already one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and a full Brazil international. He and Nikola Milenkovic have formed a fantastic partnership in the heart of the Forest defence and that solid foundation has put Forest in a strong position to finish in the top three of the Premier League and potentially win the FA Cup.
Forest lost to eventual winners Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup and travel to Brighton this weekend knowing they are potentially 90 minutes away from sealing a place at Wembley. As the team third in the league, they are technically the best team left in the FA Cup. Oddschecker says they are the least likely to win out of the seven top-flight teams remaining, funnily enough. That will change dramatically if they knock out Brighton on Saturday…
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LB: Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)
At the age of 21, it is hardly surprising that Kerkez has never won a trophy but he was an AC Milan player once upon a time. He never won anything in Italy and won diddly squat in his only season in the Netherlands with AZ Alkmaar.
Bournemouth have never won a major trophy and regardless of how their FA Cup campaign pans out, Kerkez is destined for bigger and better things, meaning he will surely not retire without a single winner’s medal in his possession.
Liverpool are reportedly interested and although all the talk has been about Trent Alexander-Arnold and the right-back dilemma, Arne Slot needs to sign a new left-back in the summer. Kerkez will surely be his man.
DM: Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa)
Former Marseille midfielder Kamara reached the Europa League final in 2018, being brushed aside by Atletico Madrid.
Villa should have won the Europa Conference League last season but are the second-favourites to win this term’s FA Cup and are still in the Champions League, albeit as massive outsiders.
Kamara is another player we can’t see going his entire career without winning a single major trophy, whether it be at Villa Park or elsewhere.
DM: Will Hughes (Crystal Palace)
Amadou Onana is a better player than Hughes but he is also six years younger, so the Crystal Palace stalwart is in our team.
A runner-up with Watford in 2019, Hughes hopes Palace avoid a thrashing at the hands of Manchester City in this season’s competition.
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AM: Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth)
The closest Kluivert has come to lifting silverware was the 2016/17 Europa League final with Ajax and the 2020/21 Coupe de France final with Nice. His father, Patrick, on the other hand, won nine trophies in his career, including the Champions League in 1995.
Out of everyone here, Kluivert is having the best season on an individual level. He has been fantastic, playing at heights we never thought he was capable of. Andoni Iraola certainly knows how to get the best out of the Dutchman, who will need to put in another top performance against Man City in Sunday’s quarter-final.
AM: Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
Eze almost won a sensational first trophy with England at last summer’s European Championship but it was not meant to be for Gareth Southgate’s boys.
Everyone in this team is a very good footballer, yet there are not too many shocks when you realise they have zero trophies to their name. Eze has played for Queens Park Rangers, Wycombe Wanderers and Crystal Palace – so it is to be expected.
He turns 27 in the summer, and if Palace do not win the FA Cup this term, it is pretty likely that Eze will move in the transfer window.
ST: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Watkins has plenty of individual accolades to his name but is still chasing that all elusive first trophy at the grand old age of 29. He was also in the England squad that lost against Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Again, the only Premier League club he has played for is Aston Villa, joining them in 2020 before Brentford were in the top flight. He has been an outstanding player for the Villans and has thrived ever since Unai Emery replaced Steven Gerrard. Well, the club as a whole have, but Watkins is now one of the best strikers in the Premier League when he was just decent before.
Arsenal came calling in January and if he went there, Watkins would only be in contention for an unlikely Champions League crown, while Villa are chasing that and FA Cup glory, which is very realistic.
ST: Joao Pedro (Brighton)
Along with Kerkez and Andersen, our man Pedro doesn’t even have an honours section on their Wikipedia page. Pathetic, really. Or would you rather that or an honours section with nothing more than ‘Europa League runner-up: 2017-18’ like Kamara?
Well, Pedro is hoping to knock Forest out and then win two more matches to lift a trophy for the first time.
