Gameweek 29: The Headlines:

Based on FA Cup schedules, this weekend was mostly blank. League leaders Arsenal didn't play, while Manchester City and Liverpool were competing in the FA Cup against Newcastle and Manchester United, respectively.

In terms of pure Premier League action, it was a battle at the bottom for Burnley and Brentford, as well as Luton Town and Nottingham Forest. It was also a season low for Fantasy Premier League, as all the projected heavy weights flopped.

But where one door closes, a window opens.

This week's discussion windows include Rodrigo Muniz's astounding run of form, Manchester United's (quite frankly, shocking) win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals, Nottingham Forest's points deduction, and Ben White's churlishness. Shall we?

Rodrigo Muniz on top

WHO IS RODRIGO MUNIZ, you might be asking ... and with good reason. The Brazilian isn't yet a household name, unless that house is Craven Cottage.

But that might be changing. Since February, Rodrigo has become the Premier League's leading goalscorer, scoring in all seven of Fulham's last seven games.

Just three years ago, Rodrigo was kicking it in Rio de Janeiro at Flamengo. But channeling Wayne Rooney à la bicycle kicks proved fortuitous, and Saudi's Al-Nassr came knocking. Thankfully for us, Rodrigo's no Jordan Henderson and he turned down the Middle East for a move to England, at the urging of former Chelsea man and Flamengo teammate, Filipe Luis.

Fast forward Fulham's forgettable 2021-22 season and Rodrigo's knee injury, and now here he is, scoring bangers against Tottenham.

Fulham manager Marco Silva believes it's just the beginning.

But for Spurs, fresh from demolishing Aston Villa last week, it was one step forward, three steps back.

Ah, well. If Ange ball was easy, everyone would play with an absurdly high back line!

Manchester United keep their FA Cup dreams alive

Who would have backed Manchester United to beat Liverpool this weekend? Not the pundits, and certainly not me. Here I am, eating my words as I type them.

You can chalk up Manchester United's amazing 4-3 win to Rasmus Hojlund's return, sheer good luck, a home field advantage, or the complicated schematics of The Athletic detailing why exactly Manchester United are perhaps best equipped to beat Liverpool at their own game.

Something about their Opta-defined direct attacks and lack of clear formation ... I didn't understand.

I did however, understand the stats. There were some good ones, like:

• Manchester United registering twice as many expected goals as Liverpool throughout 120 minutes of play
• Antony, A STRIKER, scoring his first goal in over a year (I don't know whether to cheer or boo, honestly)
• Liverpool losing a game that they initially led - which is the first time that's happened this season

Unlike Liverpool, Manchester United is not in contention for the Premier League title. And unlike Liverpool, the team faces an uphill climb to even make Champion's League. The FA Cup trophy might be the Red Devils' only shot at glory this season, and they went absolutely balls-to-the-wall to get that W.

Credit where credit is due.

Manchester United gets the very lucky end of the draw by facing Coventry in the semi-final, with that winner advancing to face the winner of the Manchester City-Chelsea game.

Nottingham Forest in the relegation zone

Prior to this season, I was only vaguely aware there was a regulatory arm of the EPL that monitored team spending.

When Everton was docked 10 points (currently reduced to 6 after appeal) for flouting the Premier League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, I spent an embarrassingly long time googling the specifics. Why the harsh points deduction? What is Financial Fair Play, anyway? Here's what I learned:

• Color me not surprised to learn that Premier League teams were spending beyond their means. In swooped FFP on its white horse to help restore the financial health of football. Phew. We're all very relieved, I'm sure.
• FFP means that, over the course of three years, clubs are not allowed to spend more money than they earn. So, you can pull a Chelsea and spend a bazillion pounds on Mykhailo Mudryk, as long as you're selling your existing players to balance out your books.
• There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to the punishment incurred for breaking FFP rules. It would be helpful if a certain loss of money was equated to a certain points deduction, but nope, it's entirely subjective.

This brings us to Nottingham Forest, the latest team to get on the wrong side of FFP. Forest has been docked 4 points, despite losing quite a bit more money than Everton, who was initially docked 10 points, now reduced to 6. See what I mean?

This is bad news indeed for Forest, whose four point loss sees them slip from 17th to 18th place, down into the relegation zone.

You can bet spirits are high at Luton, though! This is manager Rob Edwards RN.

Ben White turns down his country

When England manager Gareth Southgate announced his 25-man England squad to face Belgium and Brazil in international friendlies, Arsenal full-back Ben White wasn't named in the list.

And no, he doesn't have a conflicting appointment at the tanning salon. It's because he doesn't want to play for England!

As quoted by BBC Sport, Gareth explained that Arsenal's sporting director Edu had called him to say Ben didn't want to be considered for the England squad. "I spoke to [Ben] post-Qatar [World Cup] and there was reticence from his side. I don't know why that is, but I respect that. I leave the door open because he's a good player."

Oh come on Gareth, you know exactly why that is. Spill the tea!

Plenty of media are out here doing the Lord's work and digging into the suggested feud between Ben and Gareth's assistant manager, Steve Holland. Steve and Ben allegedly had a blow up at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with The Daily Mail suggesting that Steve poked fun at Ben's lack of interest in football, hinting that he didn't care about the sport.

Oh, Steve.

We all know Benny Blanco doesn't watch football! Ben has finger tats and wears bucket hats, he matches his tan to his Arsenal jersey, he likes dainty earrings, and he dresses like a rich Gen Zer doing his best to film a vlog at Burning Man.

In other words, Ben's not Roy Keane and he's never going to be! Ben's a sensitive boy, but you don't hear Arteta making fun of him.

Don't fix what's not broken, Steve.

Meanwhile, Gareth's busy insisting that everything is fine, look over here, there was no fight, there was never a fight, stop saying there was a fight!

I will miss seeing Ben play for England. Not that he got much playing time in Qatar, but I'll miss knowing he's out there somewhere, gracing the bench with his sweet, sensitive aura.

Never change, Ben!

We break for international duty this week, so the next gameweek isn't until the end of March, when Arsenal take on Manchester City at the Etihad.

(Gulps.)

Godspeed, Gooners!