Tottenham will look to avoid a giant-killing this weekend when they travel to face non-league Tamworth in the FA Cup third round.
Spurs enter the competition against National League opposition who won on penalties against Burton Albion to reach this stage.
Ange Postecoglou’s side come into this game off the back of an impressive 1-0 win over Liverpool in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
They will now be expecting to pick up another victory in cup competition and progress through to the next round on their quest for a trophy.
Tamworth, who are the lowest ranked team left in the FA Cup, are sure not to lie down easily though, and there’s no doubt that they will fight to beat their much superior opponents.
Tamworth vs Tottenham: 13 years later…
This will be Tamworth’s second-ever FA Cup game against a Premier League side.
Their first came in January 2012 when they took on David Moyes’ Everton.
Unfortunately, they were beaten 2-0 thanks to a header from Johnny Heitinga and a late penalty from Leighton Baines.
That Toffees side included Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Marouane Fellaini too, with Phil Neville captaining them on the day.
The Staffordshire outfit were knocked out in the third round, but Moyes praised their brave performance.
He said post-match: “It was a bit of a struggle at times. Tamworth did really well and kept at it and while it was only 1-0 they were always in with a chance.”
Tamworth will be hoping to put up another fight against Tottenham as they aim to reach the fourth round for the first time.
- Tottenham have progressed from each of their last nine FA Cup ties against non-league opponents. Their last such defeat came against Norwich in 1914-15, when there were only two Football League divisions.
- This is Tamworth’s fourth appearance in the FA Cup third round, going out at this stage in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2011-12.
Tamworth vs Tottenham: Team news
Postecoglou will certainly be rotating his side after a win over Liverpool on Wednesday.
Mikey Moore is fit and should start along with fellow academy products Alfie Dorrington, Will Lankshear and Callum Olusesi.
New signing Yang Min-hyeok could make his debut while Brandon Austin is likely to return in goal as Antonin Kinsky settles into London.
Timo Werner hasn’t had a place in the first team for a while, so he should also start out wide, as James Maddison returns from suspension.
Rodrigo Bentancur will miss out after his worrying injury in midweek, joining Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie on the sidelines.
Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke aren’t expected to start.
- Tottenham have progressed from 17 of their last 18 FA Cup third round ties, with the only exception being a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in 2013-14.
- Since his first season in English football (2015-16), no player has been involved in more FA Cup goals (first round onwards) than Tottenham’s Son Heung-min (25 – 14 goals, 11 assists).
Tamworth vs Tottenham: What has been said?
Tamworth manager Andy Peaks was absolutely delighted to draw Tottenham in the FA Cup.
Speaking after he found out his side were going to play Spurs, Peaks said: “It’s like a reward for the last two and a half years for everyone involved.
“It’s just a shame that we can’t get more than 4,000 people in The Lamb. Just me alone I must have already been asked for 4,000 tickets.
“I was quite happy to have a home draw or a really big game away. And some of the ties I didn’t really fancy, a long way away and a bit tough.
“But I just had a feeling when the number 53 came out and I looked at the faces of the ones who were pulling the balls out and they knew it was a big team.”
Tamworth vs Tottenham: talkSPORT coverage
This FA Cup third round tie will take place on Sunday, January 12.
Kick-off at The Lamb Ground is scheduled for 12:30pm.
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and Tamworth-born FA Cup and Premier League winner Marc Albrighton.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
The game will be broadcast live on ITV1.