SPURS love a good FA Cup run, but they face a potential banana skin trip to Lancashire on Saturday night to play Championship side Preston North End.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has prioritised winning a trophy this season and the FA Cup is clearly their best chance barring a Champions League miracle.
They haven't actually won the Cup since 1991 and they will be going full tilt to end that run. But they are one of the most inconsistent and hard-to-pin-down teams in the land.
The question as always with them is which Spurs will turn up?
Conte and Spurs were in a bad place having lost to bitter rivals Arsenal at home and following that up by blowing a two-goal lead away at Manchester City only to lose 4-2.
They face one of the original and greatest clubs in English football, Preston, who always appear to be chasing the Premier dream, but haven't actually played in the top flight since 1961. The last time they reached the FA Cup quarter-final was in 1966.
This season, they are plodding along in mid-table under Ryan Lowe, although they have won three out of their last four games in all competitions.
How the bookies view this
Spurs are clear favourites unsurprisingly at 6/17 with SBK.
PNE can be backed at 9/1 with Coral, while the draw is 9/2 with 10Bet.
Recent head to heads
The sides haven't met for 14 years and Spurs thrashed Preston 5-1 in a League Cup tie at Deepdale. They haven't met in the FA Cup since 1966 and the league since 1961.
Players to watch
Ched Evans is Preston's top scorer this season and has scored six goals in his last eight games. He is 5/1 to score anytime with bet365.
With Harry Kane as short as 4/6 to score, the value surely lies elsewhere. Swedish striker Dejan Kulusevski scored at Manchester City and he is 13/5 to score with William Hill.
Anything else catch the eye?
If Spurs approach this the right way and play to their abilities, they cruise through. But there's always a doubt with this Tottenham team and it could be an uncomfortable evening up north for them.
Preston have nothing to lose and will have a go and if Spurs win, it may be a low scoring affair. Their last three wins have all been to nil and two of them have been by one goal.
Try a Spurs win and under 2.5 goals at 29/10 with 10Bet.
In their previous FA Cup game at home to Portsmouth, they had to be patient and wait for a second half breakthrough, This could easily happen here too and the draw half time and Spurs win at full time is tempting at 10/3 with UniBet.
This FA Cup match between Preston North End and Tottenham Hotspur will be played on Jan 28, 2023 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Preston North End vs Tottenham Hotspur prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
