Tottenham Hotspur begin their FA Cup campaign against Aston Villa in an all Premier League tie in the third round.
Victory would see Spurs avoid suffering their first third-round exit since 2013-14 season, whilst Villa can move past this stage for the third consecutive season.
Team News
Rodrigo Bentancur is ruled out for Tottenham after he suffered a hamstring injury in their 3-2 Premier League loss at Bournemouth.
Lucas Bergvall (muscle) is a doubt for selection.
Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Mohammed Kudus (quad), James Maddison (ACL), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Dominic Solanke (ankle) are still ruled out.
Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are both away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal and Mali respectively.
Villa will be without first-choice goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez after he was substituted with a knock in their goalless draw at Crystal Palace.
Tyrone Mings set to return from a thigh injury subject to late fitness checks.
Evann Guessand (international duty), Amadou Onana (hamstring) and Ross Barkley (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Tottenham host Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 10 January at 5:45pm GMT, live on BBC One and TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham have avoided defeat in eight of 13 previous FA Cup meetings against Villa across 12 individual ties (W7, D1, L5).
- Villa have won four of nine previous FA Cup visits to Tottenham (W4, L5).
- Spurs have lost three of their last five all top-flight ties (W2, L3).
- Villa have avoided defeat in three of their last five meetings against fellow top-flight opposition across four individual ties – of which their tie against Chelsea went to a replay in fourth round of 2023-24 season (W2, D1, L2).
Prediction
Having enjoyed a strong start at Bournemouth then clawed their way back into the game from 2-1 down, Tottenham will be frustrated at how sloppy marking cost them a point especially given how good they looked playing up the left flank, so a huge response is needed here.
Aston Villa meanwhile are only six points behind Arsenal in a three-way Premier League title fight but I do think that their chances of that crown is unlikely, so I expect them to again take this competition seriously and Unai Emery will surely field his strongest line-up after a frustrating draw at Palace.
Tottenham however know that the pressure is off them here because not many will give them a chance but this is their best hope of a cup title this season, so I at least expect them to show some fight but Villa should really just have the edge.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa
Result: Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa
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