Tottenham Hotspur v Newport County, FA Cup Fourth Round replay
19:45, Wednesday 7th February, Wembley Stadium
TV/Radio
The match will be shown on BT Sport 2 with coverage beginning at 7.15pm. Radio coverage can be found on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Local Radio and TalkSport.
What’s At Stake?
A place in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup is up for grabs in this replay, that will be decided with extra time and then penalties if there is no winner after 90 minutes.
With Millwall having lost their Fourth Round replay away at Rochdale on Tuesday night, Spurs face a trip to Spotland in the last-16 if victorious, rather than the anticipated London derby. Should Newport pull off a shock victory, it will only be the second time that they have reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, with the last occasion coming way back in 1949.
Team News
New signing Lucas Moura is ineligible to play after being signed from PSG after the initial tie took place, but Tottenham could welcome back the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Serge Aurier, Danny Rose and Harry Winks after injury.
There is also the opportunity for Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela to continue to build their fitness having recently returned from long spells on the sidelines, while youngsters such as Kyle Walker-Peters and Tashan Oakley-Boothe have been named in the preliminary squad.
Newport lost a member of their squad on Monday in unusual circumstances, when their striker Sean Rigg left the club to go part-time at Bath, in order to allow himself the opportunity to fulfil his dream of studying to become a tattoo artist. The 29-year old had made 21 appearances this season for Newport.
Ben White will be unavailable with a thigh problem, but David Pipe returns for Newport after a hamstring strain.
Referee
Stuart Atwell will take charge, while Graham Scott will be the Video Assistant Referee. Atwell has only shown one red card this season.
Betting
Spurs are 1/11 to win in 90 minutes, with the draw at 11/1 and Newport way out at 33/1.
There’s little value in the match result market, but the best online betting sites offer a huge range of alternative options. Pick of the bunch could be for Lamela to score at 11/8, in a match that the Argentine is likely to start.
History
The 1-1 draw between the teams in January was only the fifth time that this fixture had taken place and the first occasion in which Newport avoided defeat.
On the previous four occasions Tottenham won. Two of these victories came in the FA Cup, with Spurs beating Newport 4-1 at home in 1959 and then 4-0 in 1960, after the clubs were drawn together again.
Hope the academy players who train with the first squad get an opportunity to play.
[…] Toby Alderweireld has dropped a huge hint he will return to Tottenham’s starting line-up for Wednesday night’s FA Cup replay against Newport County. […]