Key events
Ange speaks
Tottenham v Burnley team news
The biggest bit of team news is arguably squirreled away among the subs: Micky van de Ven returns to the Tottenham matchday squad for the first time since injury his hamstring against Chelsea in November.
Spurs (possible 4-3-3) Vicario; Pedro Porro, Emerson Royal, Davies, Udogie; Skipp, Bentancur (c), Lo Celso; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Johnson.
Substitutes: Donley, Dorrington, Forster, Gil, Hojbjerg, Phillips, Scarlett, Sessegnon, Van de Ven.
Burnley (4-4-2) Muric; Vitinho, O’Shea, Delcroix, Taylor; Zaroury, Ramsey, Cullen, Odobert; Foster, Amdouni.
Substitutes: Vigouroux, Brownhill, Rodriguez, Roberts, Redmond, Al-Dakhil, Cork, Tresor, Bruun Larsen.
Pre-match reading: Tottenham v Burnley
Pre-match reading: Fulham v Rotherham
Fulham v Rotherham team news
Between them, Marco Silva and Leam Richardson have changed an entire XI: eight for Fulham, three for Rotherham.
The survivors from Fulham’s terrific win over Arsenal are Timothy Castagne, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Rotherham bring in the former Nottingham Forest midfielder Cafu, aka Cafu.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Rodak; Tete, Tosin, Diop, Castagne; Reed, Lukic; Wilson, Andreas, De Cordova-Reid; Muniz.
Substitutes: Benda, De Fougerolles, Robinson, Cairney, Palhinha, Francois, Willian, Raul Jimenez, Vinicius.
Rotherham (possible 5-3-2) Johansson; Lembikisa, Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall; Lindsay, Clucas, Cafu; Eaves, Hugill.
Substitutes: Phillips, Peltier, Bola, Rathbone, Tiehi, Appiah, Kelly, Nombe, McGuckin.
Brentford v Wolves team news
It gives me great pleasure to report that my room-reading skills leave a fair bit to be desired: both managers have picked pretty strong teams, with only three changes apiece from their last Premier League game.
Brentford (possible 3-5-2) Strakosha; Collins, Zanka, Pinnock; Roerslev, Jensen, Damsgaard, Dasilva, Norgaard; Maupay, Lewis-Potter.
Substitutes: Balcombe, Peart-Harris, Baptiste, Janelt, Yarmoliuk, Olakigbe, Brierley, Adedokun, Fredrick.
Wolves (possible 3-4-2-1) Sa; Kilman, Bueno, Toti; Nelson Semedo, Gomes, Doyle, Doherty; Sarabia, Bellegarde; Cunha.
Substitutes: King, Mosquera, Keto-Diyawa, Hodge, Griffiths, Chirewa, Barnett, Neto, Kalajdzic.
Ange Postecoglou did not want to say who would captain Tottenham in Friday night’s tie against Burnley. The usual choice, Son Heung-min, is away on Asian Cup duty while the vice-captains, Cristian Romero and James Maddison, are injured.
Read more…
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our first dedicated FA Cup clockwatch of the 2023-24 season. It won’t be the last; you can have that information for nowt. There are three games tonight, all involving teams who may not be entirely in thrall to the romance of the cup.
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Brentford v Wolves (7.15pm)
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Fulham v Rotherham (7.30pm)
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Tottenham v Burnley (8pm)
The biggest priority for Brentford, Burnley and Rotherham is to avoid relegation. Spurs, despite the dangerously high levels of air pollution in their trophy room, would probably prefer to finish in the top four than win the FA Cup, and may decide to rest their best players given their injury crisis.
Fulham and Wolves could probably have a crack at glory, as Fulham are doing in the Carabao Cup, but they may also take the pragmatic option.
The team news will reveal much, if not all.
