Tottenham Hotspur will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they welcome Morecambe in their third-round of FA Cup contest on Sunday. The North London outfit came second best to their city rivals in their mid-week outing, as Chelsea outclassed them in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final tie – and Antonio Conte is likely to demand a response from his men.
Until this week, the Italian head coach was unbeaten in all of his domestic games as Spurs manager – but that streak was broken on Tuesday night, as his former side Chelsea thoroughly outplayed Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Spurs succumbed to a 2-0 loss which could and should have been more, and Conte acknowledged the gulf in class between the two teams at full time.
Known for being quite the combustible character when things are not going his way, Conte held back no punches after losing a nine-match unbeaten domestic run – and hinted that the club might go into the transfer market looking for reinforcements in January. However, even after the weekend outing that did not quite go to plan – Spurs are still unbeaten in seven home games under Conte, and hence the difficulty of the task at hand for the visitors Morecambe is still huge.
The League One outfit failed to win any of their last six games in 2021 but started the new year on a good note with a win in a 4-3 thriller against Doncaster at home. Fresh off an entertaining win in the third flight, the Shrimps will hope to keep up the momentum when they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face their top-flight opponents – fully aware that they would need a mammoth performance from the whole team to be able to get anything out of the contest.
It has not exactly been a season to remember for the Morecambe faithful, as the club is currently languishing in 19th place in League One and staring at relegation to the fourth tier of English football if they do not turn their fortunes around. However, the Shrimps will be banking on the magic of the Cup to play its part in a one-off game – Stephen Robinson’s men will aim to make the occasion count and add to the long list of noteworthy upsets in history of the FA Cup.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Date: Sunday, 9th January 2022.
Time: 3:00 pm (UK).
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: John Brooks.
Assistant Referees: Marc Perry and Natalie Aspinall.
Fourth Official: Gavin Ward.
VAR: Michael Salisbury and Timothy Wood.
TEAM NEWS
Tottenham are unscathed from the news of a coronavirus outbreak in their camp, and will go into this game with not a lot of absentees. Son Heung-Min, Cristian Romero and Steven Bergwijn are likely to miss out, but Ryan Sessegnon is set to return from injury. Antonio Conte could take this opportunity to rest a few regulars ahead of important games in the Premier League this month, and one can expect the likes of Pierluigi Gollini, Joe Rodon and Tanguy Ndombele to start.
As for their visitors, Cole Stockton and Alfie McCalmont made timely returns from injury for the Doncaster win and are likely to both start against the outfit two tiers above them. The visitors have also moved to secure the signatures of Jacob Bedeau and Trevor Carson in the January window, while Josh McPake has returned to parent club Rangers. Having come through the Doncaster thriller unscathed, Robinson ought to reward most of his players with a start on Premier League turf, although Aaron Wildig could deputise for McCalmont if necessary.
CAN MORECAMBE RIDE THE MAGIC OF THE CUP TO A MEMORABLE UPSET?
It will be the first time that these teams have gone up against each other, and hence the slate is clean for the League One outfit to write their own destiny. The Shrimps are going to be motivated off the back of their last outing, as despite being 3-0 down at the break – they showed hunger and determination to turn the game around and go on to win 4-3. The result will give Morecambe confidence ahead of the outing, something they will look to use to their favour.
One can expect the confidence in the visiting dugout to grow with every passing minute if the home team fail to capitalise on their chances – and it would not be the first time that Spurs have been upset by a lesser favoured team this season. Tottenham have suffered a couple of embarrassing defeats in the Europa Conference League, something that will motivate the Shrimps further to push the hosts to their limits and put them under unwarranted pressure.
OR WILL SPURS SIMPLY PROVE TO BE TOO STRONG FOR THEIR OPPONENTS?
Despite losing their unbeaten streak to Chelsea this week, Spurs are still a good side under a good head coach who can afford to bring on some great players off the bench if needed. Even though Tottenham are likely to start with their fair share of youngsters, inability to find the back of the net might see Harry Kane warming up to join the party very soon. The England captain has been revitalized by the change at the helm, and will come off the bench whenever required.
In the absence of Son Heung-Min, the onus will fall on Kane to deliver the goods – and the Spurs forward will hope to be up for the task, having scored three goals in his last six appearances this season. Despite having a much slower season by his lofty standards, Kane still has scored a fair share of goals – and he will be aiming to add to that tally in order to help Spurs qualify to the fourth round, and avoid risking being knocked out of two cup competitions in the same week.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-2-1): Gollini; Tanganga, Rodon, Dier; Doherty, Winks, Ndombele, Sessegnon; Alli, Gil; Scarlett.
Morecambe (4-3-3): Carson; McLaughlin, O’Connor, Gibson, Leigh; Wildig, Diagouraga, McLoughlin; Obika, Stockton, Gnahoua.
