Tottenham Hotspur will play their first FA cup match of the season on Sunday as they take on Marine from the eighth division. Let’s take a look at the team news (the Tottenham starting XI Prediction can be found here) ahead of this match, one where the disparity in strength between the two sides could not be larger.
Spurs must ensure that they do not get complacent ahead of this match, which comes against a side literally 161 slots below them in the English football pecking order. They just reached the final of the EFL Cup and that should give them a lot of confidence. They can’t get too confident here though, and not take their opponent seriously. If they just play their game and focus on themselves, it will be very easy to get a win.
One player who might be available for Sunday is Welshman Gareth Bale who has returned to training. He has been out with a calf problem, but manager Jose Mourinho will be making the decision whether to play him or not.
Another player who could be set to return is Erik Lamela. However, one player who will be missing from Sunday’s game is Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso. There are no other issues in the squad apart from these three and Spurs will be looking to field a strong team here.
This third-round match is a testament to the magic of the FA Cup as we have one team fighting for the Premier League title taking on a team from the eighth division of the FA. But Spurs must simply treat it as any other game.
They cannot let other outside factors influence them this weekend.
However, this match also gives them the chance to test out some of their youngsters, as these players might not get a game in otherwise. Mourinho must also be aware of the risk of rotating the squad too much as that can upset the balance of the team going forward.
Tottenham have one of the easier ties in this round, but they will want to be serious about getting the win. If Spurs can get some passes going and bring in their attackers, it will make life very difficult for Marine. Given the form that they are in, all roads point towards a very dominating win for the team from North London.