FA Cup 2011-12: Stevenage FC v Tottenham Hotspur Preview

Tottenham Hotspur will visit FC Stevenage on Sunday to play their 5th round FA Cup match with a view to get their first piece of silverware in many years.

Tottenham undoubtedly the strongest team left in the tournament as Liverpool and Chelsea are the only other top Premier League teams left in the cup. And Spurs have proven that they are better than these two sides in this year’s league campaign.

The London club led by manager Harry Redknapp will be full of confidence after their 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend. And Spurs would be looking for an easy win against Stevenage on Sunday.

Spurs could possibly miss skipper Ledley King and Younes Kaboul in this match due to knee problems. Van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Jenas and Gallas have already been sidelined due to injuries. But, new signing Louis Saha is expected to stay as he is not cup-tied.

Stevenage are on a very good form in recent times in the Championship. And the fact that they are playing Spurs in front of their home crowd will definitely help them to create a possible upset. And they are expected to play a full-strength squad.

The only thing that could prove as a distraction for Spurs’ players is the future of their manager Redknapp, who is the favourite to be England’s next coach following the resignation of Fabio Capello after the John Terry racism row.

But Redknapp has insisted that he is focused on his current job and the news surrounding the national team’s coaching role will not disturb him. He is looking forward to a win against Stevenage followed by a positive result against Arsenal next week in the London derby.

Probable line-ups – Stevenage- Day, Henry, Ashton, Roberts, Laird, Edwards, Wilson, Mousinho, Bostwick, Freeman, Beardsley

Tottenham- Friedel, Walker, Dawson, Nelsen, Assou-Ekotto, Kranjcar, Modric, Parker, Bale, Adebayor, Saha