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Saints Have To Put Out Strongest Side Against Spurs In The FA Cup
Thursday, 23rd Jan 2020 10:31

With our recent resurgence and with a two week break looming, Saints have no excuse to put out a weakened side against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, this is a competition we could go far in.

Ralph Hasenhuttl indicated that he might rest a player or two against Crystal Palace, in the end he didn't rotate as much as some would thought, but the fact that he rested Danny Ings perhaps suggested that he was holding back the striker for Saturday's game.

The three points at Palace really took the pressure off Saints and took us to within perhaps two wins of safety and an 8 point gap between us and the bottom three meaning we can take the cup a little more seriously than others in the Premier League who are either more concerned about relegation or fighting hard in Europe and have played far more games than the rest.

Saints now have only two games in the next three weeks due to the staggered winter break, the Spurs cup game and a trip to Anfield and then they have a two week rest before taking on Burnley on the 15th February.

Tiredness therefore should not be an issue in selecting a team for this game and although we can perhaps make changes we do not need to make many

A good cup run will not only bring in income, but could perhaps see us reach an FA Cup Final for the first time in 17 years and only the 3rd time since the Victorian era and if we won it we would also be in Europe, so there is plenty to play for.

If Saints can beat Spurs they will knock out a major challenger for the trophy and with several Premier League clubs already out and 3 other's guaranteed to go out due to all Premier League ties, the competition could start to open out if we then got a favourable draw for the 5th round which will not be played till the first week in March.

By then the European competitions will have resumed meaning that the clubs involved in that will be playing a lot of games in March and will have to prioritise a little more, so we have a great chance going forward if we dispose of Tottenham on Saturday.

So Ralph Hasenhuttl has to pick his best team and get it ready for two games and then it can rest.

Photo: Action Images



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underweststand added 10:58 - Jan 23
Difficult call his one. Despite Nick's vision of Euro football is creditable , and both Saints and Spurs probably see the FA Cup as their only chance of big success this season.
Both sides still have the rest of the seson to play out, but need to concentrate on the Prem. to ensure survival with a decent finish.

I'd play Adams, and even Smallbone again, perhaps Yoshida and Romeu and have the "regulars" on the bench. Spurs are struggling without Kane, but Son is still a threat.
I'm sure Ralph will make changes, but must still try to find the balance.

For me ..there are few sides I like to beat as much as Spurs, so I don't mind which side he chooses - as long as we win, and if we draw City or Liverpool in the next round - so be it .
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Waylander added 11:05 - Jan 23
Winks got injured last night so he won't be playing
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saintmark1976 added 11:37 - Jan 23
Regretfully no PremIership club takes either domestic cup very seriously anymore. I don't expect Ralph to be any different on Saturday and fully expect to see Saints reserves v Spurs reserves. Either way it would be most pleasurable to see us embarrass Jose the serial whinger once again.
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underweststand added 14:37 - Jan 24
Jose Moaninho already preparing his list of excuses for an eventual FA Cup defeat, by saying .....that Saints team will be " 24 hours fresher " than his Spurs side .. what next JM?
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