Attentions turn to the fourth round of the FA Cup, with Tottenham making the short trip to Essex to take on Colchester who prop up the League One table.
Having scraped past Leicester City in the last round thanks to a replay, Tottenham will be more confident this time round, as they look to dispatch a poor Colchester side.
On the back a dominant 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, Spurs surely should make quick work of The U’s, who are hoping to keep the scoreline respectable.
Colchester
To put it simply, it’s been a horrendous season for Colchester and relegation to League Two looks nailed on.
Without a league win since October, that’s 14 games on the bounce without registering three points and three points is how many they’ve picked up during that dreadful run.
With 65 goals conceded in just 28 games, that’s an average of 2.32 goals per match, a statistic that explains just why they currently sit bottom of the table.
Yet at the other end, Colchester have no problems scoring goals – they’ve scored the same amount as League One leaders Burton Albion.
The FA Cup has been a chance for the Essex side to forget their league woes and achieved something of a scalp by beating Charlton Athletic 2-1 in their third round tie.
Although given Charlton’s own failings perhaps it wasn’t quite so surprising.
There’s no doubt Saturday’s match will be more of a case of damage limitation than the chance of a cup upset, but at least, it should be an entertaining match and it is the chance for Colchester to give a good account of themselves.
Tottenham
Last weekend’s victory over Crystal Palace asserted Tottenham’s stance as serious title contenders, capped off with a contender for goal of the season.
Dele Alli’s superb, skilful volley all but confirms his shoe-in as the PFA Young Player of the Year, but the win was all the more impressive given how Spurs went behind for the majority of the game.
Tottenham have put in consistently good performances over the course of this campaign and the FA Cup presents their best opportunity in years to win a trophy.
Against Leicester at home in the third round, Mauricio Pochettino took a gamble in resting several of his first choice players and it almost backfired.
This time round, the risk is virtually non-existent as Spurs should make short work of poor Colchester side who haemorrhage goals.
The big disappointment is the injury to Jan Vertonghen who is set to miss the next couple of months with a knee injury, giving Kevin Wimmer the opportunity to impress as the Belgian’s stand-in and firmly putting the rumours to bed of a loan move away from White Hart Lane.
An emphatic victory should give Spurs a big boost in their challenge across three fronts this season and can send a statement to several of the big boys who also have their eyes on not just the FA Cup, but the Premier League too.
Last time out
If my Google research is correct, this is the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
The Colchester View: Owen Garvan, midfielder
“There is pressure on every football game. I think people see Tottenham as a good team in the Premier League, but the way that football is, we could easily go and win that game.
“I won’t be over-awed by the occasion. They’ve got a couple of good players, but I’m expecting a tight game, and I think it can go either way.
“I’m hoping that Colchester fans will get there early to make it a good cup atmosphere, even though that might be difficult with the early kick-off time.
“I think it will be a tight game, but hopefully, we can win it.” (East Anglian Daily Times)
The Tottenham view: Harry Kane, striker
“It has been great to get away [to Barcelona with the team] and recharge the batteries – a bit of sunshine on your back can only help!
“Obviously we’ve had a lot of games recently, so a bit of different scenery with better weather than we’ve got back home and being together has been great and it will only help us going forward.
“Everyone is fighting for the same thing at the moment and fighting for places in the team. It’s such a great spirit that we’ve got here and coming away all together has been brilliant – it shows what kind of team we are and what kind of team we want to be.
“Obviously getting away from everything back home in terms of the routine has been good and it’ll help me and other players who have played a lot of minutes this season as well.
“We’ve got another busy period now so when we can have times like this, it’s important and beneficial.” (Tottenham Hotspur)
Prediction
There’s no way Tottenham will exit at this stage of the FA Cup. The FA Cup has been full of upsets already, but this won’t be one of them.
Colchester United 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur
