Take a trip back to the kick - off of the Premier League season. There, Joshua Zirkzee, the new addition to Manchester United, found the back of the net with the only goal in a 1 - 0 victory over Fulham. Now, leap forward to March 2. The Dutch striker once again had a say in a crucial encounter between the two sides, this time in the highly - charged FA Cup quarter - final.

Regrettably for Manchester United, Zirkzee’s pivotal moment in this match worked against the Red Devils. After a 1 - 1 draw at Old Trafford, Marco Silva’s Fulham forced the game into a penalty shootout. Bernd Leno, the Fulham custodian, pulled off remarkable saves. First, he denied Victor Lindelof from the penalty spot, and moments later, he thwarted Zirkzee’s attempt from 12 yards.

Silva’s players, on the other hand, were flawless from the spot. They converted all four penalties, effectively snatching the FA Cup trophy from Manchester United’s reach. As a result, Fulham has earned its status as a dark horse in the tournament, as they strive for their maiden FA Cup victory.

However, a glance at the historical records reveals a less - than - rosy past for Fulham in the FA Cup quarter - finals. Since their last semi - final appearance in 2002, they have been eliminated in four consecutive quarter - final matches. Three of these defeats were at the hands of Manchester United, while the other came against Tottenham Hotspur. Intriguingly, just before the international break, Fulham managed a 2 - 0 victory over Tottenham.

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.

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.

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 should only be missing Joel Ward (calf), Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Chadi Riad (knee) for Saturday's game; Will Hughes is fine to play despite serving a Premier League ban for accumulated bookings.

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, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; Mateta