Arsenal's decision to make nine changes to their side for the FA Cup backfired as they were dumped out in the third round by Nottingham Forest. Arsene Wenger kept just two players in his starting XI from the one that drew with Chelsea on Wednesday and they paid the price as the Championship side
ran out 4-2 winners at the City Ground.

That followed the trend across the weekend for Premier League teams, who tended to struggle after making a raft of changes, with several forced into replays.

Chelsea also made nine changes at Norwich on Saturday tea-time and they laboured to a 0-0 draw, meaning they are facing an extra fixture.

Leicester made eight changes before drawing with Fleetwood, as did Bournemouth as they were held by Wigan, while Swansea made six in the 0-0 draw against Wolves.

The five teams averaged eight alterations from their most recent league line-ups, while the nine Premier League teams who won their cup games changed 4.89 players on average.
Tottenham and Huddersfield were the exception as they both made eight changes but won.

One of the three surviving players for Spurs was Harry Kane, who bagged two goals in a 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, while the Terriers beat Bolton 2-1.

Overall, top-flight teams changed around half their line-ups - the average number of changes was 5.61 as managers balanced up the demands of pursuing a cup run and keeping players fresh.

Friday night's Merseyside derby focused Liverpool and Everton's priorities and ensured both played strong teams, though they made six and five changes respectively, Liverpool handing a successful debut to £75m signing Virgil van Dijk, who headed their winner.

On Saturday, Gary Cahill and Tiemoue Bakayoko were the only Chelsea players retained from Wednesday's dramatic draw with Arsenal as Antonio Conte gave the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Kenedy and Michy Batshuayi an opportunity against the Canaries.

Swansea's changes may have been influenced by recently-appointed manager Carlos Carvalhal wanting to run the rule over his new squad, with Wilfried Bony, Leroy Fer and Wayne Routledge among those recalled. Carvalhal will have another chance after a goalless draw with the Championship leaders.