Tottenham Hotspur travel to Tamworth FC on Saturday for a FA Cup clash that will see the North Londoners take on the 16th place team in the National League, the fifth tier of the FA pyramid.
So if you’re aware of Spurs’ current position in the table, and you’re scoring at home (for your sake, I really hope what you’re doing at home is a lot better than scoring The Sports Bank articles) that is a difference of 96 slots in the grand scheme of things.
FA Cup 3rd Round FYIs
Tottenham Hotspur vs Tamworth
Kickoff: Sun. Jan. 12, 12:30pm, The Lamb Ground, Tamford, Stratfordshire, UK
Tottenham Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
That disparity is the most for this specific round of this edition of the FA Cup, but it is not unprecedented; not even for Spurs. Remember the tiny club in Liverpool known as Marine?
They welcomed in Spurs for a tie in this round of the competition almost 4 years to the day.
That match is believed to be the biggest slot disparity ever, as Marine and Tottenham sat 161 places apart at the time. And Marine almost took a lead on Spurs too, as they had a shot on goal bang off the crossbar while it was still scoreless.
That said, let’s just get to the first team prediction. As it’s a Premier League side versus a fifth tier team, Spurs will play a lot of kids and reserves here.
They are playing their third choice goalkeeper out of necessity, and not by choice here. But this is the perfect match to be doing so.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction at Tamworth (FA Cup)
Antonin Kinsky; Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Alfie Dorrington, Sergio Reguilon; Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall; James Maddison, Luca Williams-Barnett, Mikey Moore; Will Lankshear
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.