FA Cup Preview: Swansea City vs Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs continue their quest for a first FA Cup since 1991 as they visit Swansea on Saturday afternoon.
With Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool all out of the competition and Spurs having been handed a favourable draw so far, their supporters will feel this is their best opportunity in years to lift the trophy.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side slapped down questions about how they would cope with their defeat to Juventus by beating Bournemouth 4-1 on Sunday, despite falling behind to an early goal from Junior Stanislas.
Heung-Min Son continued his incredible run of seven goals in his last four in all competitions with another two on the South Coast, sandwiched by strikes from Dele Alli and Serge Aurier.
It all came at a heavy cost, however, with Harry Kane having to be withdrawn with another injury to the ankle that ruled him out for a total of three months last season.
Swansea have been faring well in the Premier League and are now just nine points away from the magic 40. They’ve lost just twice since the turn of the year and thrashed West Ham 4-1 last time they were at the Liberty Stadium.
Team news
Tottenham fans could be forgiven for scrolling down to this section in a hurry. When will Kane be back? The striker left Bournemouth wearing a protective boot and while he was originally supposed to have a scan on Monday, by Wednesday there was still no news. All that can be certain is that he’s 99% certain to be out of this one, and the question now is how much of the remainder of the season he will miss.
Dele Alli also had to be taken off against the Cherries, though Pochettino insisted in his press conference that this was more of a precaution after the England international picked up a minor knock. The same was said of Danny Rose (calf).
Eric Dier, who suffered an elbow injury in the Champions League defeat to Juventus, should have recovered. Toby Alderweireld has not featured since the 2-2 draw with Rochdale in the FA Cup.
Swansea are somewhat depleted in the wake of Jordan Ayew’s three-match suspension for a red card against Huddersfield. Carlos Carvalhal is already without Wilfried Bony (knee), Leroy Fer (calf) and Angel Rangel (groin). Leon Britton has shaken off a back problem and he could return alongside Renato Sanches, whose underwhelming loan spell was further interrupted when he picked up a thigh injury against Wolves in the FA Cup.
Expected line-ups:
Swansea: Nordfeldt, Van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Bartley, Roberts, Ki, Carroll, Clucas, Dyer, Abraham, Routledge
Tottenham: Vorm, Trippier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Eriksen, Lamela, Moura, Son
Did you know?
Since Carvalhal took charge in late December, Swansea have won all but one of their home games. Their only defeat came against none other than Spurs, who managed a 2-0 victory in some torrid conditions thanks to goals from Swans old boy Fernando Llorente and Alli.
Prediction: Other than in their 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, Spurs have made hard work of progressing so far in the competition and needed replays to overcome both Newport County and Rochdale.
This is the business end of the competition now and with the Lilywhites out of Europe and enjoying a five-point lead over fifth-placed Chelsea in the league, the cup has just become very important.
For all Carvalhal’s improvements, Swansea’s priority must be survival and up against what should be a relatively strong Spurs side, it will be a huge challenge for them to get to Wembley. Swansea 1-2 Tottenham
