Prediction & odds for the game: Marine (40/1) v Tottenham (1/50) – ST is backing the away win

When: Sunday, 10th January @ 5pm K.O

Where: Rossett Park

Eighth-tier Marine will attempt to cause one of the biggest upsets in the history of English football when they host Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.

Marine

Marine Football Club may be on the outside looking in at the Northern Premier League North West Division’s playoff race by a single point, but with the current season being in a state of limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we think it’s safe to say they’re putting all of their eggs into the FA Cup basket. They have an absolutely huge opportunity ahead of them this Sunday in what is easily their biggest game ever, and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle the pressure – especially without the fans being in attendance.

With wins over Runcorn Linnets and Nantwich Town in the second and third qualifying rounds, Marine set themselves up for a juicy tie against Chester at the end of October. After edging out a somewhat surprising 1-0 win they did the same thing to Colchester United, and then in the second round, they beat fellow FA Cup folklore side Havant & Waterlooville to set up this mouthwatering clash.

Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur are already into the final of one cup competition through their exploits in the League Cup, and Jose Mourinho will be eager to do everything in his power to further improve the club’s chances of lifting some silverware this season. That doesn’t mean we think Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are going to be featuring in the starting XI, but it does mean they’re going to treat Marine with the respect they deserve – we hope.

Consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Leicester put a huge dent in Spurs’ title aspirations, and while their wins over Stoke and Brentford did get them into the League Cup Final, they looked shaky in a 1-1 draw with Wolves. The good news for Tottenham supporters is that they showed some real finishing ability in a 3-0 win over Leeds to kickstart 2021, which is the sort of tenacity they need to be showing again against Marine.

Conclusion

Every neutral football fan will be hoping and praying that Marine can do the unthinkable, but we just can’t picture a scenario in which that happens. Tottenham aren’t going to blow anyone away here so we shouldn’t expect an utterly ridiculous scoreline, probably because Jose is going to use this opportunity to play an awful lot of fringe players. In what should be one of the more dramatic and entertaining games of football this year, we’re going to back Spurs to progress into the fourth round.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 2-0 Tottenham, ensuring we stick to the under 2.5 goals bracket which could bring in some tasty winnings.

Verdict: Back the away win at odds of 1/50 and the under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 6/1 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Marine vs Tottenham then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page as we continue through the journey of this season’s FA Cup.