Middlesbrough v Tottenham: FA Cup third-round tips, odds & prediction

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Middlesbrough v Tottenham in the FA Cup third round at the Riverside Stadium.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 2.01pm Sunday

Best bet

Draw-draw double result
1pt 11-2 bet365, SkyBet
Back this tip with bet365 here

Team news

Middlesbrough
Daniel Ayala limped out of Middlesbrough's New Year's Day fixture against Preston. Patrick Roberts and Lukas Nmecha have both joined on loan from Manchester City and could feature.

Tottenham
Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele are out for Tottenham. Son Heung-Min returns from his ban following the red card against Chelsea. Christian Eriksen is also in line for a start.

Match preview

Jose Mourinho could be faced with an unwanted FA Cup replay when his Tottenham side travel to Middlesbrough.

After an encouraging start to his Spurs career, Mourinho has seen his side struggle away from home over the last two weeks. Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Southampton, a game in which Spurs lost Harry Kane to injury, was proceeded by a 2-2 draw with the Premier League's bottom club Norwich.

Middlesbrough have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes. Manager Jonathan Woodgate was under pressure going into their home fixture against Stoke before Christmas but a 2-1 win proved the catalyst for a run of four straight wins.

That run included a superb 2-0 away win against top of the table West Brom, which was their first away win of the season.

The sides meet in the FA Cup for the first time since 1966 but they last met in a Premier League match on Teeside in September 2016. Spurs won that game 2-1 but that was only their second win in 12 trips to the north-east.

The Riverside has not seen many goals in the 2019-20 season with just 23 in 13 league matches.

Six of Boro's eight league wins have come at home, though, and they look comfortable in mid-table.

Away form has been a problem for Tottenham throughout the season. Mauricio Pochettino failed to win any matches away from home before he lost his job, including an embarrassing defeat to Colchester in the League Cup. Mourinho has managed to picked up two away wins against West Ham and Wolves.

The result of this one could depend on which Tottenham turn up. If they can reproduce the form of their 5-0 win over Burnley in early December then it is going to be very tough for Middlesbrough but a performance such as the one at St Mary's on New Year's Day and the Championship side will fancy their chances.

History is on Tottenham's side as they have progressed in 38 of their last 40 ties against teams from outside the Premier League. Their only defeats came against Leicester, who were a Championship side in 2006, and Leeds in 2013.

Middlesbrough will be confident though of taking their improving league form into the FA Cup and this could well be decided in North London.

Key stat

Jose Mourinho has only ever lost one FA Cup tie to a team from outside the Premier League. That was a 4-2 defeat to Bradford City, while he was at Chelsea, in January 2015.

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