FA Cup: Tottenham Draw Aston Villa at Home in Third Round
A home fixture between Tottenham against Aston Villa is set to happen during the weekend of January 6-9th. This presents Spurs’ best chance at winning a trophy.
With the draws all wrapped up for the FA Cup, Tottenham have a challenging opponent on hand when they host Aston Villa in the third round.
The Lions who are managed by former Hull City manager Steve Bruce have been riding a good streak of form, having only lost once since the 55-year-old took over on October 12th.
In the eight matches that Steve Bruce has been in charge of, Villa have won four, drawn three times and as mentioned above, recently picked up their first loss.
When comparing Bruce’s tenure to Roberto Di Matteo’s stint as manager, Aston Villa won one game, drew seven and lost twice. So obviously, Villa are doing much better now than when they first started their campaign in the Championship.
Having a good run in this year’s FA Cup is Spurs’ best chance at winning some silverware after already being eliminated in the League Cup back in October. Being able to still qualify for the Europa League would be another chance at a trophy.
Winning titles is something that Mauricio Pochettino is looking forward to and he’s been close on one such instance two years ago (League Cup) and again last year (FA Cup).
“In every club where I was a player or manager, they knew the historic importance of the cups – of all the history.” Pochettino said earlier this year (via Evening Standard).
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“It’s not easy to win titles. When you fight with big, big clubs, too. We are here for that, to try to change the history and try to win some titles. This is our challenge.”
Third round fixtures will begin next month during the weekend of January 6-9, 2017 so there’s plenty of time for both Spurs and Aston Villa to change in terms of form.
Right now Villa had their seven-match unbeaten run snapped this past weekend. Tottenham on the other hand just played one of their best matches this season, beating Swansea City.
When the two teams square off against one another Érik Lamela and Toby Alderweireld should be fit and in the squad again. This means Spurs will be back to full strength for the first time in quite some time.
To go along with two returning starters — plus Ben Davies — having Harry Kane scoring goals, Son Heung-Min saying he’s feeling better now, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli involved in Spurs’ offense when they approach the final third against Swansea on Saturday, Spurs appear to be clicking.
It may have been for one game, but Tottenham were a dominate bunch. They were hardly troubled on defense and put away a team they should have by scoring five goals.
Once the FA Cup begins, Mauricio Pochettino will be managing his eight match in this competition. The Argentine’s record stands at three wins, two draws and two losses. So while it looks promising, it entirely depends on what Pochettino considers important this season.
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The Europa League is still on the table if Spurs qualify. If not, then the FA Cup is all that’s left for Tottenham aside from the Premier League. Although title race isn’t over, being seven points away from first is reminiscent of last season when Spurs couldn’t close the gap.
At the end of the day, the Premier League will always be the main priority with a cup run being the second objective. Remaining in Europe would be nice, sure, but depending on Spurs’ position they might consider bowing out unless they reach the Round of 16 once again or further.