On Sunday the 10th of January we have a tremendous FA Cup third round tie to look forward to as Marine host Tottenham Hotspur at the Marine Travel Arena.
Marine currently play in the Isthmian North league and occupy 6th place in the table while the visitors are in 4th place in the Premier League, so there is a huge gulf between the two teams.
🐐 𝗖𝗔𝗠@MonsterEnergy ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/qQD9A9YXFD— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 6, 2021
🐐 𝗖𝗔𝗠@MonsterEnergy ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/qQD9A9YXFD
Thanks to an extra time winning goal scored by Niall Cummins against Havant & Waterlooville in the second round of the competition, Marine are the lowest ranked team remaining in the FA Cup this season.
However, due to the latest coronavirus restrictions in England, they were unable to play their fixture on the weekend at Ossett United.
That means you must go back to the 26th of December to find the last time Marine played a match and they defeated City of Liverpool 2-1 away from home. That result means Marine have won each of their last two fixtures and have lost only one of their last 14 matches in all competitions.
Marine entered the FA Cup at the preliminary round stage and have played 7 fixtures to reach the third round of the tournament. Only twice in those 7 FA Cup games have Marine managed to score more than a single goal but they have kept a clean sheet in in two of their last 3 FA Cup matches.
Tottenham Hotspur make the trip north to the Marine Travel Arena having already secured their place in one cup final this season.
They defeated Brentford 2-0 at home in the semi-final of the League Cup on Tuesday night and Jose Mourinho is sure to be keen to win as much silverware as possible in his first full season in charge of the team.
The victory over Brentford means Spurs have remained undefeated in their last 4 games in all competitions. They have picked up victories over Leeds United in the Premier League and Stoke City in the League Cup plus been held to a draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
However, away form shows Spurs have been struggling to win matches and they have recorded just one victory in their last 6 away games in all competitions. Spurs have seen both teams score in each of their last 5 away matches.
Team news and Marine will be fresh for this game having not played for two weeks. It will be interesting to see if they go with the same starting XI and formation from the previous round or revert to a more defensive selection.
Spurs are sure to make some changes from the team which played in the League Cup on Tuesday night. Harry Winks, Ben Davies, Japhet Tanganga, Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli, and Carlos Vinícius could all start.
Marine will be hoping to remain in the game for as long as possible and make life difficult for Spurs.
However, there is a huge difference in quality between the two teams and we expect to see Spurs come away with the victory, even if the hosts do score what would be a memorable goal.