Tottenham's quest for their first silverware in 15 years takes them to Deepdale for an FA Cup fourth-round tie with Championship Preston.
Spurs will likely need to improve on their performance in the previous round, when Harry Kane's goal saw them edge past League One Portsmouth 1-0, if they're to take a step closer to lifting this famous trophy for the first time since 1991 – although they haven't gone out to lower-league opposition since losing 2-1 to then second tier Leeds at this stage a decade ago.
Preston – who beat fellow Championship side Huddersfield 3-1 in the last round – will be hoping things go better than in their previous meeting with Spurs: a 5-1 home thrashing in the 2009/10 League Cup. FA Cup winners in 1889 and 1938, the hosts have made it to the fourth round for the first time in five seasons; they last reached the fifth round in 2015.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe is without injured strikers Emil Riis Jakobsen and Sean Maguire, while on-loan Spurs centre-forward Troy Parrot is ineligible to face his parent club. Ben Whiteman returns in midfield after injury.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has rung the changes for the FA Cup clash at Deepdale. Fraser Forster starts in goal, with Japhet Tanganga, Davinson Sanchez, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic all included in the XI.
Harry Kane, who needs one more goal to be Tottenham's all-time top scorer outright, is on the bench after a bout of illness this week. New signing Arnaut Danjuma is also among the substitutes after arriving from Villarreal on loan and could make his debut.
Currently 11th in the Championship, Preston are well in an extremely tight play-off race. The hosts have won three of their last four games in all competitions, most recently 2-1 away to Birmingham City in the league last Saturday.
As for Spurs, who sit fifth in the Premier League, they continue to struggle for consistency. Monday night's 1-0 win at Fulham – which saw Kane draw level with Jimmy Greaves as the club's all-time leading goalscorer – was their third in five league and cup outings, but they have lost their other three matches since the turn of the year.
Referee
Peter Bankes will be the referee for Preston North End vs Tottenham Hotspur.
Stadium
Preston North End vs Tottenham Hotspur will be played at 23,408-capacity Deepdale in Preston.
Kick-off and channel
Preston North End vs Tottenham Hotspur kick-off is at 6pm GMT on Saturday 28 January in the UK. The game is being shown on the BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
In the US, kick-off time is 1pm ET / 10am PT. The match will be shown onESPN+ in the US. See below for international broadcast options.
VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch FA Cup football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for an FA Cup tie, then you won't be able to watch on your domestic streaming service as usual. The broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!) and blocks you from watching it. You can use a VPN to get around that, though, without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and will let you watch. And all the info going between is entirely encrypted, anonymous and safe – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there.For the FA Cup, FourFourTwo currently recommends:
ExpressVPN including a 30-day, money-back guarantee FourFourTwo’s brainy office mates TechRadar love its super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS5 and loads more. You also get a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and it's currently available for a knockdown price. Go get it!
(Image credit: Future)
International FA Cup TV rights
• UK: In the UK, FA Cup rights are shared between the two main terrestrial broadcasters, the BBC and ITV.
• USA:ESPN+ is the home of the FA Cup in the States.
• Canada: In Canada, Sportsnet NOW is the place to catch the FA Cup action.
• Australia: Paramount+ is where you can watch FA Cup matches in Australia.
• New Zealand: In New Zealand, Sky Sport have the rights to the FA Cup.
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
