please log in to view this image Sunday 7th of January 3pm FA Cup 3rd Round Wembley Stadium A short run of three wins was brought to a stuttering halt by the Olympic Bus Parking Committee on Thursday. Frustrating draws against defensive, dour sides has become something of hallmark of our games at Wembley. It's fair to expect AFC Wimbledon to attempt something similar when they face us on Sunday. Pochettino will probably pick a heavily rotated side too, so some of our fringe players will have to earn their keep. Wycombe's visit to the Lane last season shows what can happen in those circumstances. This will be one of the biggest weeks in the short history of AFC Wimbledon, one way or another. The old club has had more memorable and glorious days, of course, but the resurrected side have a massive 7 days. Playing at Wembley against a Premier League side in the FA Cup starts it off in style. They'll then have a bit of a rest before facing off against the club that they refuse to even recognise. Next Saturday sees them travel to Stadium MK to play a league game against the club that stole their place. There's some connection between that upcoming game and ours too, in the form of one Dele Alli. The undoubted pantomime villain of the piece, as he is for most matches, came through the academy at MK. He played 88 games and scored 24 goals for the team, before his move to Spurs for £5m. I'm sure that the traveling fans will let him know that they remember where he joined from. The two League One clubs are closely matched in that division in this campaign. Two points and two places separate them during this break for the FA Cup, though Wimbledon have a game in hand. AFC are currently in the relegation zone and a win would pull them out and leapfrog their hated enemy. Both face London clubs in the 3rd round this weekend too, as MK Dons are up against QPR. Will either manage to boost their form and confidence with a surprise result? We've never faced AFC Wimbledon in a senior competitive match. The closest that we've come is a 4-3 loss for our U21s this season in the Checkatrade Trophy. The old Wimbledon team last faced us in the 1999/2000 season, which ended in their relegation. I'll go back a couple of years before that for the highlights, though. A memorable match in a relegation battle saw Jurgen Klinsmann do what he did best: Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose are still out through injury. Wimbledon have Kwesi Appiah injured, but a number of other fitness problems appear to have been overcome. Barry Fuller, Jon Meades and Cody McDonald should all be available. Dean Parrett and Andy Barcham are both ex-Spurs players currently on the Wimbledon books, too. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies; Sissoko, Dier; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Wanyama, Dembele, Winks, Lamela, Llorente. League form: WLWWWD. Dons: Long; Francomb, Oshilaja, Nightingale, Kennedy; Abdou, Trotter, Soares; Kaja, Taylor, Forrester. Subs: McDonnell, Robinson, Charles, Hartigan, Egan, McDonald, Barcham. League form: LLWLDW. Referee: David Coote. He's been almost exclusively used in the Championship this season. Not sure what this was about, though: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/two-referees-axed-eve-new-10932721 TV: Not televised. It's apparently sold out though, which I find a little surprising. Reduced capacity, of course. I think that we all expect some rotation here, but who and how much? Should anyone be entirely omitted from the squad and for what reasons? Should any of our youngsters be getting a shot in this match?
Mrs B has one of her best friends coming over, immediately after she, her 5 year old son [my godson] and the husband that she is in the process of separating from, go to the husband's new flat to explain that "Daddy doesn't live with us any more" and she leaves the young man to spend the night with daddy. As a supportive, modern husband, I shall be 20 miles away, enjoying the excitement of the cup and the luxury offered by Club Wembley - including cup holder and padded seat. I will hear about the inevitable emotional carnage later.........when I'm pissed enough.......much, much later.
Played for both Chris Perry Ben Thatcher Oyvind Leonhardsen John Scales ...oh, wait, we're not playing the MK Dons.
Poch doesn’t class the FA Cup as an important trophy even though it’s our real chance of winning something this season.
In addition to Parrett and Barcham, George Francomb is also an ex-Spur. He was with our Academy before being released at the age of 14.
Gazza Trippier Foyth Jan KWP Wanyama Winks Lamela Eriksen GKN Llorente I don't want us experimenting too much in this game. We should be going all-out for the FA cup this season in all honesty. Pretty weak defensively but that team has enough about it to get the win.
That's also the side I'd play, with the exception of Dave in for Jan. Jan's played near enough every minute this season, while Dave got a rest due to his three match suspension. Hopefully see Edwards, Sterling and Georgiou on the bench with a view to giving them a run out if we can take a solid lead.
Whatever the line-up, the message must be that a replay is not an option (so manager + squad pull your finger out - busparquet is probably coming) .
Think i read somewhere that Edwards is injured mate. Typical, his first team career just cant get going.
On tube to Wembley and there was a collective groan when some one read out the team and got to Sissoko
On my way to Wembley now. Haven't been to many games at all this season so I sincerely hope this is worth the trip and the 2 hour queue to get on a train afterwards.
I assume Kane is starting because Pochettino wants to see more of whether a Kane/Llorente combo can be just as productive without Alli or Son. Big risk though of him getting injured. The other players is just common sense for those getting match sharp after injury + squad rotation. When do the CL rosters have to be given to UEFA (perhaps some extra incentive today for certain non HG players who risk losing their slot to Lamela) ??
Kane and Llorente on the pitch at the same time is a logical Plan B that has seen surprisingly scant daylight.
