MY ACCOUNT
– Sheffield United have failed to win four of their last seven matches in all competitions
– Tottenham have kept five clean sheets in their last seven games
– Recommended bet: Tottenham to win and under 2.5 goals
With last season’s finalists, Liverpool and Chelsea, already out of the FA Cup and Premier League heavy-hitters Arsenal and Newcastle also eliminated, Tottenham supporters are starting to dream of ending their 32-year trophy drought in the competition.
However, a fifth-round trip to Bramall Lane looks a real banana skin of a fixture, with hosts Sheffield United impressing in the Championship as they plot a course back to the top flight of English football.
FA Cup glory may be a secondary target for both clubs, with the Blades desperate for a Premier League return and Spurs both competing in and trying to qualify for the Champions League.
But success on Wednesday night will put the victor just one step away from a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and with the draw opening up nicely, both sets of players will be dreaming of long-awaited cup glory.
Team news
Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom could have wing-back George Baldock available after nearly two months out of action but full-back Enda Stevens is likely to still be a week or two away from returning.
Blades striker Rhian Brewster and defender Rhys Norrington-Davies remain out with hamstring injuries and long-term absentee Jack O’Connell continues his rehabilitation following a serious knee problem.
Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur is out for the season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and will be joined on the sidelines until April by fellow midfielder Yves Bissouma, who is recovering from a stress fracture to his ankle.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is out until April with a knee injury and left-back Ryan Sessegnon is expected to be absent for a similar length of time with a thigh problem.
Meanwhile, it is also unclear if Tottenham will have head coach Antonio Conte back in the dugout following surgery or whether his assistant Cristian Stellini will continue to deputise.
The stats
Promotion-chasing Sheffield United are second in the Championship and seven points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand.
However, Heckingbottom’s men have hit a slightly sticky patch of form recently, winning only two of their last five Championship matches and failing to win any of their last three away – losing at Millwall and drawing with struggling pair QPR and Rotherham.
In their last four home games, Heckingbottom’s men have needed a late own goal to beat an out-of-form and poor-travelling Watford side as well as losing 3-1 to Middlesbrough and needing two added-time goals to see off Conference side Wrexham in the FA Cup.
Tottenham have started to find a bit of consistency and much of it has to do with the excellent form of defender Cristian Romero.
Spurs have won five of the last six matches the Argentine has started and have conceded just once in that run. However, the match Romero missed in the middle of that sequence saw Tottenham crash to a 4-1 defeat at Leicester.
Prediction
When the draw for this fixture was made, Sheffield United were flying in the Championship and Tottenham were faltering badly, giving the tie a distinct sense that it could offer an FA Cup upset.
However, dropped points in three of their last five Championship matches have given Blades boss Heckingbottom a headache as he may now feel United must maintain full focus on league matters to ensure they do not let a golden opportunity for promotion pass them by.
The Blades players will still want to impress at home against a team they hope to be facing in the league next season and after their fiery clash with Wrexham in the last round, adding over two Sheffield United cards to Bet Builders looks a decent option.
And while likely rotation and a lack of creative flair for the visitors might stop this being a classic FA Cup encounter, a careful, controlled performance should see Spurs edge their way into the quarter-finals.
Back Tottenham to win and under 2.5 goals, available at 10/3 with LiveScore Bet.
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