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Attendance: 58,007
Spurs logo
FA Cup | Fifth Round
Mar 4, 2020 at 7.45pm UK
 
Norwich logo

1-1

FT
(aet)
Drmic (78')
Norwich win 3-2 on penalties

Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Norwich City - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City, including predictions and team news.

Tottenham Hotspur play host to fellow Premier League side Norwich City in round five of the FA Cup on Wednesday night.

Spurs have lost three games in a row in all competitions, whereas Norwich picked up a morale-boosting victory over Leicester City last time out.


Match preview

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho reacts on February 2, 2020© Reuters

Back-to-back Premier League defeats to Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers, preceded by a 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, has badly derailed Tottenham's campaign.

The Lilywhites are now seventh in the table, albeit just two points adrift of Manchester United in fifth place, which will likely be enough to seal Champions League football for next season.

Jose Mourinho now faces a huge challenge in attempting to stop the rot and getting his side's campaign back on track, with Wednesday's visit of Norwich now taking on added significance.

Spurs required replays to overcome Middlesbrough and Southampton in rounds three and four respectively, but as from this season all fifth-round fixtures must be settled on the day.

That is good news for Mourinho in many ways given he has complained about his side's fixture list in the wake of losing a number of key men to injury.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min may yet play again before the end of the season, but for now Mourinho has to make do without arguably his two best players.

Norwich City's Jamal Lewis celebrates scoring their first goal with Max Aarons on February 28, 2020© Reuters

A Norwich side in confident mood will be looking to take advantage of Tottenham's recent slump and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1991-92.

The Canaries have been eliminated at this stage four times since then, most recently in 2011-12, and they have also been knocked out from 13 of their last 15 ties against top-flight opposition.

Daniel Farke's men did beat Burnley in the last round, though, following a third-round win at Championship side Preston North End, and they are now just two games away from Wembley.

Friday evening's home win over Leicester has given Norwich's survival hopes a major boost, but the gap on safety is still six points with 10 games to go.

Winning the FA Cup will not be on Farke's list of immediate priorities, though this game does provide City with a chance to pull off a big upset to take into their quest for Premier League survival.

Tottenham Hotspur's FA Cup form: DWDW
Tottenham Hotspur's form (all competitions): WWWLLL

Norwich City's FA Cup form: WW
Norwich City's form (all competitions): LWDLLW


Team News

Ryan Sessegnon pictured for Tottenham Hotspur on November 6, 2019© Reuters

As well as being without long-term absentees Kane, Son and Moussa Sissoko, Tottenham have also now lost Ryan Sessegnon and Hugo Lloris to injury.

Sessegnon is carrying a hip injury and Lloris has injured his groin, with both players considered major doubts for Wednesday's clash.

Erik Lamela is another who has been struggling for fitness of late, though he is expected to be part of the squad and could even start.

Mourinho reiterated at the weekend that Troy Parrott is still not ready for senior football, but the young striker is among those pushing for inclusion, along with Tanguy Ndombele and Gedson Fernandes.

As for Norwich, Sam Byram, Onel Hernandez and Timm Klose have all been ruled out through injury.

Christoph Zimmermann remains doubtful, meanwhile, after sitting out the games with Wolves and Leicester over the past fortnight.

Depending on how seriously Farke takes this fifth-round tie, the likes of Josip Drmic, Tom Trybull and Ralf Fahrmann could all be included in the starting lineup.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Lo Celso, Winks, Ndombele; Lucas, Alli, Bergwijn

Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Fahrmann; Aarons, Godfrey, Hanley, Lewis; Vrancic, Trybull; Rupp, Stiepermann, Cantwell; Drmic


Sports Mole Logo

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Norwich City

Tottenham have only progressed from one of their previous four FA Cup ties with Norwich. Defeat for Mourinho's men on Wednesday would be pretty disastrous, but we expect them to dig deep and pick up the win needed to kickstart their campaign.



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Norwich City boss Daniel Farke on February 1, 2020
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