Sheffield United host Tottenham Hotspur at Bramall Lane in the concluding Fifth Round tie of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Victory would see Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades qualify for a third Quarter-Final in four seasons, whilst Tottenham are chasing their first appearance beyond this stage since they reached the semi-finals in 2017-18 season.
Team News
Ciaran Clark is one of several Sheffield Utd players who are a doubt for this tie due to illness.
Enda Stevens (muscle), Billy Sharp (ankle), George Baldock, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Rhian Brewster (both hamstring) remain ruled out.
Tottenham have no fresh injury concerns to report as Hugo Lloris (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (ACL) and Yves Bissouma (ankle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Sheffield Utd host Tottenham at Bramall Lane in a 7:55pm GMT kick-off on Wednesday 1 March, live on BBC One in UK.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Utd have won two of three previous FA Cup ties against Tottenham – albeit over four meetings after the 1908 Final went to a replay which the Blades lost (W2, D1, L1).
- Tottenham lost their only previous FA Cup visit to Bramall Lane 3-1 in February 1936 (L1).
- Both teams have scored in three of their four previous FA Cup meetings, except for a 3-0 away win for Utd in January 1958.
- All eight of Sheffield Utd’s FA Cup goals this season have been scored by eight different players.
- Spurs are yet to concede in this season’s FA Cup.
Prediction
Although automatic promotion is Utd’s priority, this game is a huge chance for them to pit themselves against a strong Premier League team ahead of their potential top-flight return next season.
Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades though will need to be absolutely perfect defensively like they were in their smash-and-grab league win against Watford on Saturday, complete with clinical end product but illness amongst various players is surely a concern in terms of fitness levels.
Tottenham though haven’t exactly been consistent on the road this season which will be a worry for Cristian Stellini in the absence of Antonio Conte, especially because his team were slightly outclassed by Chelsea on Sunday yet were ultimately more clinical.
Spurs though will be wary of the fact that they lost away at Championship opposition at this stage last season – also live on BBC One, yet they do seem to have more about them this season but they will need to weather the Blades’ aggressive attacks.
Should they indeed manage that then Tottenham really should win without extra-time but this game just feels like a cupset waiting to happen, so I am going for a minor surprise result given Spurs’ inconsistency on the road in 2023.
Prediction: Sheffield United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Result: Sheffield United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
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