Northern Premier League Division One North West’s Marine welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Rossett Park in a mouth-watering Third Round clash in 2020-21 FA Cup.
With 161 spots separating both teams in the football pyramid, Marine will be eying up one of sport’s greatest ever giant killings in terms of cupsets whereas Spurs know that victory will send them into the Fourth Round for a seventh straight season.
Team News
Marine have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection.
Tottenham expect to have Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg available despite the midfielder suffering a shin injury in Tuesday’s League Cup victory over Brentford.
Gareth Bale (calf) and Matt Doherty (suspension) are also available for selection, whilst Giovani Lo Celso remains absent with a thigh injury.
Stat Attack
- This is Marine’s first-ever meeting against Tottenham let alone any top-flight opposition in all competitions.
- Marine lost their only previous Third Round appearance in the FA Cup, losing 3-1 away to Crewe Alexandra.
- Tottenham have avoided defeat in their last two FA Cup meetings against non league opposition, defeating Marlow then Altrincham in 1992-93 and 94-95 seasons respectively, albeit both matches taking place at home.
Prediction
Marine have done a great job to defeat teams like Nantwich Town, Colchester plus Havant & Waterlooville, yet Tottenham are going to be a very difficult task to get a goal against let alone beat given the contrast in quality.
Tottenham though have had to scrap their way past lower league opposition on quite a few occasions with just two away wins in their last seven FA Cup trips, which will be a slight psychological concern for many players given that most of them have participated in those fixtures.
I however can’t see past a comfortable away win here because it is going to take one horrific away performance for Marine to stand any shot at victory, although Tottenham could show them a bit of respect once are assured of victory due to a need to protect key players.
Prediction: Marine 0-4 Tottenham
Result: Marine 0-5 Tottenham
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